


You Can Sink to the Bottom of the Sea (Just don’t go without me)

by Mikkal



Series: junk in my trunk (and my documents folder) [9]
Category: The Almighty Johnsons
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anders has feelings, Angst, BAMF!Anders, Brotherly feels, Canon Mythology, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I really like Anders/Mitchell too, I've got myth in the story, M/M, Past Anders/Helen, Ragnarok, but I'm going to work around the Idunn/Bragi thing, how do you do tags?, i really like Anders, lots of brotherly feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-08
Updated: 2014-08-03
Packaged: 2018-01-08 00:11:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 25,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1126041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mikkal/pseuds/Mikkal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They banished Bragi from the family and, in turn, banished Anders as well. Angry and hurt, Anders decides that he’s had enough of New Zealand for a while. He closes down JPR, gives Dawn glowing recommendations with a hint of Bragi’s power in the words, sends his brothers a letter each, and hits the road. </p><p>It’s five years later now, they’re no closer to finding Frigg, no closer to ascending back to Asgard, and Ragnarök is closer than they like. Then Anders is suddenly back in town, skirting his banishment in a way the Johnsons never thought of, and holding the answers like he was an Oracle instead of Bragi. It’s a race to the finish before the Jörmungandr stirs, threating to unwound from around the earth and poison the sky, unleashing the Ragnarök to devour the earth to begin anew. Not to mention threats to their lives follow their gods begin to appear, including Fenrir, mistletoe mixed with Loki, Baldr, and Höðr, and then Váli coming into the world and adding more chaos</p><p>Too bad the human vessels are too fond of this world, they’ll do everything in their power to bring Odin and Frigg together and postpone Ragnarök for another millennium.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I.I

“You know what?” Anders shouted. “I’m fucking done with them! All of them!”

            Dawn watched her boss tear up his office, tossing papers into boxes and stacking folders on his desk. Every now and then he would pause in his shouting and call someone, usually a client to tell them to fuck off (usually he would literally say “fuck off,” but for some reason he was being polite when he cancelled their contract) or someone else to call in a favour. She had no idea what was going on except that his brothers managed to do something drastic, all calls from her to Ty went unanswered.

            “Fuck them,” he growled. “They want me gone, fine. I hope they’re not expecting me at a Thing any time soon.”

            Suddenly Anders rounded the corner that separated her desk from his office and slapped a piece of paper on her desk. “This is yours,” he said, still snappish but a little softer. She always knew he has a soft spot for her, as much of a soft spot a man like him could have. “Letter of recommendation, should get you any job you’d like.”

            Her jaw dropped as he walked away, kicking the wall as he went by and rummaged through a filled box when he finally made it to his desk. He was serious about this? When he walked in four hours ago telling her he was shutting down JPR she thought he had been kidding. Ever since Anders had been pulled back into his family’s life a few months ago he frequently threatened to close down JPR.

            Which made no sense because he loved this place, built it from the ground up with blood, sweat, and tears (he would not admit the tears thing to anyone, but Dawn was witness). Glancing down at the paper, though, proved that Anders was completely serious this time. He’d never written a recommendation letter for her any of the other times and the words actually typed out were serious, professional, and surprisingly moving.

            “What happened?” Dawn finally asked. The letter was just too much, it was too real.

            “Odin fucking banished me, that’s what happened,” Anders snarled. “Well, banished Bragi, but what’s Bragi without Anders? Anders without Bragi? Forget the fact that Mike is constantly not Ullr and we keep trying to convince Ty that he’s his own person and that Höðr is not him. Axl is Axl without being Odin all the time. But when it comes to me I’m constantly Bragi, not a drop of Anders left in me since I turned 21. Fuck them,” he sneered.

            Dawn blinked in shock at the rant. Anders never gave a clue that he felt like this before, always being cocky and covering things up with a smirk and a well placed word. That’s when it hit her; he was covering up, using Bragi as a shield against the world. She watched him pace, papers long forgotten. His breathing was fast and shallow, his hands were shaking, and his legs looked seconds from collapsing under him.

            This was Anders. This was the boss she started working for years ago. The man who could feel and let the world see his feelings, but then was slowly masked by Bragi when things started to get harder without his family around. Now that she thought about it, though, the Anders she started working for was probably not the Anders he was before Bragi. If what little she knew about the Johnsons family was true, then Bragi became a mask long before Bragi even became Bragi.

            Dawn swallowed and tried to call Ty again. He was the closest brother Anders had, perhaps he would know what to do before Anders made this shut down a real thing and left New Zealand for good. She got his voicemail again making her sigh in frustration; she left a desperate message before hanging up and tossing her phone to the side.

            She hesitated for a brief second before she entered the office fully, wrapping her arms around Anders and leading him to the couch. His breath hitched and kept hitching, sounding painful to her ears and not at all optimal.

            “Breathe, Anders,” she said gently, rubbing his shoulder then his back. “Come on, you’re going to hyperventilate if you’re not careful.”

            That’s when she realizes that Anders _is_ hyperventilating, borderline panic attacking, and if she doesn’t get him to breathe deeper then he was going to make himself pass out. She held him closer and brought his head against her chest, breathing deeply and over-the-top. She ran her fingers through his already disheveled hair, heart constricting when Anders didn’t even make a crude remark about being so close to her chest. He just clung to her like a child, shoulders shaking like he was trying not to cry.

            “Breathe, Anders,” she said. “Breathe with me. That’s right. Come on.” She sighed. “I hate to ask, but if I’m going to talk to your brothers, you have to tell me why they banished you so I have both sides to the story.”

            Anders groaned. “I slept with Gaia,” he whispered. “I had no choice. Bragi and Iðunn, they’ve been together for thousands of years. We’re just two mortals housing powerful Nordic Gods, what did they expect?”

            Dawn squeezed her eyes shut tightly. This was…this was just all levels of fucked up. When Ty came into her life and told her about all this god-stuff, she was not expecting any of this. She had a feeling she had a better view about all of this than the gods involved, she was mortal and wasn’t brought up in a fucked up family. She was neutral as all get out (minus the fact that she was dating Höðr more-or-less).

            “Maybe…” Oh she was going to hate herself for this. “Maybe it would be a good idea for you to leave for a while,” she said. She felt Anders stiffen in her embrace. There was the whole possibility that he would hate her after this. “Give yourself a chance to be Anders again, without any of this god-stuff. Let Axl and Gaia work out their Odin and Iðunn deal. Just relax for a while. And this way Bragi and Iðunn are far, far away from each other and this can’t happen again.”

            Anders shook his head. “I can’t,” he said, his voice muffled. “They need Bragi.”

            They need Bragi, not Anders. Oh, that hurt.

            “Maybe when you come back they’ll need Anders too,” Dawn replied.

            That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Anders pulled away from her, face stoic, and breathing a little bit more even. It took less than three hours for Anders to finish packing his papers up and cancelling the rest of his contracts, now that he stopped ranting and was just dead silent.

 The silence was worse than the ranting, Dawn thought. The angry words were normal; a silent, not drinking Anders was rare.

She picked up her letter of recommendation again, reading it over. It was full of words Anders would never speak to her unless he was absolutely and utterly wasted (which has happened twice in all the years she’d known him) and reading it, for some reason, gave her the feeling Bragi was seeping out. Weird considering that she thought Bragi was all about the spoken word.

“Dawn,” Anders said quietly, startling her from her thoughts. “Gives these to my brothers, will you? And this one to Gaia.” He handed her four envelopes. “It’s gay, I know. But I don’t think I can face them to tell them.  Oh wait, I can’t anyway. Banished and all that.”

“You’re not going to tell them you’re leaving face to face?” Dawn asked. “They’re your brothers. Family in more ways than one.”

He shook his head. “Axl might try to kill me again. Mike will probably punch me in the face. Ty might not do anything, mostly because you keep calling him and leaving voicemails, he’ll probably be too worried.” He gave her a bitter grin. “No, it’s best if they just read the damn letters and leave me alone.”

Dawn swallowed thickly, tears stinging her eyes. This was actually happening. “What, you’re just going to leave me with a letter? You’re not going to pull some strings and get me a new job by tomorrow morning? Some boss you are,” she joked weakly.

He chuckled and leaned over to kiss her cheek. “You’re amazing,” he said. “You probably don’t even need that letter, but…” He trailed off mysteriously, giving her a wink. There we go, that was the bright, happy Anders.

Anders was out the door already when her phone rang.

“What’s wrong?” Ty demanded, panic in his voice. “Are you okay? What did Anders do?”

A tear ran down her cheek.  She wiped it away quickly. Ridiculous, he wasn’t going to be gone forever and he was mostly definitely going to call at least her.

“He left,” she answered in the steadiest voice possible. “He decided to get away from Gaia so Iðunn and Bragi don’t fall into bed again by accident. Not to mention, it’s a little hard to be in the same city as your family when you’re banished.”

“Fuck,” Ty muttered. “Fuck. When did he leave? Do you know where he went?”

She shrugged even though he couldn’t see her. “I don’t know,” she half-lied. “I just know he’s shut down JPR, wrote me a letter of recommendation (probably did more than that too), and left me letters for you guys and Gaia.”

Ty swore again. “I’ve been trying to get Axl to lift the banishment,” he said. “But he’s so pissed about Gaia. Olaf keeps telling him it wasn’t completely Anders fault, that it was Bragi, but Axl won’t listen.”

“What’s Mike doing?”

He sighed. “Trying to keep Axl from hunting Anders down and killing him.”

Dawn winced. “Yeah, Anders mentioned something about that.” She tucked her phone between her ear and shoulder as she started placing things carefully in an empty box Anders left behind. “Do you want to read the letter now or later?”

“I’m gonna some over now,” he said. “You’re at JPR, right? Jesus,” he muttered. “How’d he close down so fast? You know what, don’t answer that. I’ll be there in a bit.”

“He’s probably been planning this for a while,” Dawn commented before Ty hung up. “After Helen he was really torn up. I think he really loved her.”

“You mean Bragi loved Iðunn?”

“No, Anders loved Helen. You should’ve heard him talk about her.” Dawn shook her head. “If you’re going to be here soon, you can give me a ride.”

“Will do,” Ty said. “I still can’t—I’ll be there soon. Hold on. Love you.”

She smiled. “Love you, too.”

Dawn hung up and sat heavily down on the couch; four letters in hand, names written on the front ranging from a steady hand to a messy scrawl that Dawn could only recognize as Ty’s name because it was the shortest one. She desperately wanted to know what was on them, but held off from flicking open the unsealed flaps.

The only thing she hoped now was that Anders would keep in touch, not even expecting him to return—especially not any time soon.

 

 


	2. I.II

_Five Years Later_

_Almost Exactly_

_Give or Take Five Minutes_

Gaia laughed loudly as Ty proceeded to trip Axl and send his little brother to the ground. Axl slid for a good number of feet before he ran into the barrier that kept people from skating off the ice into the crowd. She doubled over when Ty lost his footing and crashed into Axl as the younger man tried getting up again.

That resulted in Michele just touching her shoulder gently and sending Gaia into the ground, swinging her feet out to catch Michele’s ankle.

“Have you all be drinking?” Mike asked as he skated over. There was a giant smile on his face and he was visibly trying hard not laugh. “You look like dominos.”

Michele reached out and yanked Mike down to join them on the ground. He yelped as he went, laughing loudly. His chest ached and his arse was sore. Michele dragged herself over the barrier, Gaia scrambling after her. Mike contemplated doing the same or just resigning himself to struggling to stand on his own.

Dawn decided at that moment to wander over, a tray with six hot drinks balancing precariously on it. Mike came to the conclusion that crawling over was the best bet, especially if there was a hot drink waiting at the end as a prize.

All five of them stumbled out of the rink on unsteady feet, the blades on the skates making it hard to walk. They collapsed on the benches in a cluster, talking loudly—almost as loud as the groups of children invading the rink. Though invading wasn’t the proper word since this specific rink was for public use and not any sports.

Mike sunk against the uncomfortable bench, letting his drink warm his fingers as he waited for it to cool down enough to drink.

It was hard to believe that five years ago Ander decided to just up and disappear. Not that it mattered much; Anders probably wouldn’t have joined them on this little family outing. Even Olaf declined on joining them, muttering on about something that Mike didn’t understand.

“What about her?” Gaia said, breaking through his thoughts. He glanced over to see her subtlety gesturing towards a blonde woman laughing with her friends.

Axl shook his head, leaning against her hip. “No, that’s not Frigg. Doesn’t feel right.”

Gaia sighed and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, burying her fingers in his hair. Five years and they were no closer to finding Frigg.

Mike was beginning to think something was wrong. Even using Ullr he couldn’t find her. Either she hadn’t been reborn in a mortal vessel yet or something was blocking her from any way of finding her.

He rubbed his face, sighing. Gaia, at this point, was completely on board with Odin finding Frigg as long as the mortal vessels that got left behind could live normally without being tied to each other. The more time Gaia spent as Iðunn that more desperate she got.

Everyone was getting desperate.

Dawn gasped, jerking away from Ty like she had been burned. “You’re freezing!”

Ty actually chuckled. “Dawn, I’m always cold. You know that.”

“And we’re in an ice rink,” Michele added. “Keyword being, you know, _ice_.”

She shook her head. “No, I mean you’re _freezing._ You’re normally just kind of cold when you’re in a good mood and you get unbelievably freezing when you’re riled up. Right now you should be cold, but you’re not. You’re freezing,” she repeated.

Axl frowned, reached over her to touch Ty’s shoulder. “He doesn’t feel any colder.”

Dawn’s jaw dropped. “You’re cold as well,” she exclaimed. “Just like him! You’re colder than you should be for being in an ice rink.” She touched every single one of them. “You’re all cold!”

Mike grabbed Michele’s hand, realizing that there was no temperature difference between them. Reaching over to touch Ty proved the same when even other gods should feel Höðr’s cold.

“What the fuck is going on?” Gaia asked.

Someone’s mobile chose that time to ring. Mike fumbled in his pockets for his phone and answered it to hear Olaf muttering more Nordic nonsense.

“Grandpa,” he said. “Slow down, speak English. What the hell is going on?”

Olaf stopped speaking for a long minute, before, in the most mystical voice he could probably muster (along the same tone he said ‘Odin’ when he named Axl), he said, “It’s begun.”

That was when the earth began to shake.

* * *

 

Anders groaned and threw his arm over his eyes as the afternoon sun peeked through the window directly over his face. When it became hard to breathe he turned his back to the light and curled against the body next to him.

“Ugh, get away. You’re cold.”

He smirked at the sluggish, sleep filled voice, burrowing closer just in spite. Then the full meaning of Mitchell’s words hit him and he jerked away, eyes flying open and heart beating fast. “What the fuck do you mean I’m cold?” Anders all but shouted.

That made Mitchell also wake up with a start, sitting up so fast he almost gave himself whiplash. His eyes were wide when he turned to Anders. “You’re freezing,” he said. “Almost as cold as I am.” He reached out and touched Anders’ forehead, the god flinched when he realized he couldn’t feel a difference in temperatures.

“Shit,” Anders muttered. “Shit, shit, shit. I thought there was more time. Fucking fantastic.”

Mitchell groaned and flopped back down. “I was hoping to avoid New Zealand for a little while longer.”

“You and me both,” Anders replied.

He rolled out of bed and pulled on his clothes, not even bothering to shower. He stated shoving his things into his bag and Mitchell’s things into his bag.

“There’s going to be an earthquake soon,” Anders muttered under his breath. “But…” He stopped for a moment to click on the television and got images of tsunamis and earthquakes galore all along the equator.  “Shit.”

“Jesus Christ,” Mitchell said, sitting up finally. “You weren’t kidding about the earthquakes. Is it going to be that bad here?”

Anders shook his head. “The further you get from where the Jörmungandr is stirring the less the damage. He’s right where the equator. For the first time in millenniums, the Jörmungandr is stirring. Fucking fantastic.” He ran a hand through his hair. “They haven’t found Frigg yet. They were supposed to find Frigg!”

“Hey,” Mitchell said. He rubbed Ander’s shoulders in an attempt to get the god to calm down. “Relax. What did you expect? I mean, you left them all alone. They had to scramble without their Anders around.”

Anders grinned half-heartedly, appreciating the attempt to make him feel better. He leaned against the vampire, relishing in the fact that Mitchell wasn’t cold. He absorbed warmth when he was close to other people, but it took awhile—watching a Lord of the Rings movie or sleeping in the same bed was plenty of time. He lost it faster than he gained it, though, so in the time Anders got up to start packing and to this point, Mitchell would already be cold.

His mobile rang, interrupting the private moment. He sighed and answered without looking. “Yeah.”

“Jörmungandr is stirring,” Olaf said with no preamble. “We have less than a year.”

“Yes, yes, I know,” Anders said. “I’m coming down to New Zealand soon.”

“Where are you now?”

Anders grinned. “New York, United States of America, believe it or not. Got here last week.”

Olaf laughed. “Mitchell with you?”

He glanced back at the dark haired vampire, grinning when the man almost fell as he tried to put on his trousers. “Yeah, he decided to follow me around all these years.” He made a face was Mitchell when the man stuck out his tongue. “He’s coming down to New Zealand with me too?” He raised the tone of his voice to make it a question directed at Mitchell.

The man nodded. “Of course, you idiot,” he mouthed, rolling his eyes.

Anders flipped him off in response, but he was secretly pleased. (Or not so secretly.) “Yeah, we’ll be there in a few days. Let Dawn know. I’ll just surprise the rest of the gods.”

Olaf made a sound of agreement. “I’m going to call them. No doubt they’re realizing the whole body temperature thing right now. They’re at an ice rink.”

Anders barked out a laugh. “Oh, that’s going to be a fun conversation.”

They said their farewells and hung up just as the earthquake finally hit New York. The entire room shook, dust raining down from the ceiling and dust blowing up from surfaces services couldn’t reach.

It didn’t bother the two of them; Anders knew the earthquake wouldn’t be strong enough to cause too much damage here or in New Zealand. They just continued to pack, Mitchell throwing out comments every now and then to get Anders’ mind off the fact that Ragnarök was starting and he had to go back home to his brothers and Iðunn.

When the earthquake ended Anders headed to the bathroom. Halfway through the door, though, was when it hit him. All the air left his lungs and he doubled over, struggling to gain it back.

It wouldn’t. It stayed just out of reach. Tears sprung to his eyes, panic and pain sat heavily on his chest. It clawed its way to his throat, making everything just harder to do.

“Anders!” Mitchell shouted, sounding faint to him as the blood rushed in his ears. “Anders, breathe. Come on.”

He felt a hand on his back, rubbing large, slow circles. Another hand reached for his, placing his palm against Mitchell’s (it could only be Mitchell) chest.

“Breathe with me,” Mitchell said. His chest moved in exaggerated movements.

It took ten minutes before Anders could give a ragged laugh and say, “You don’t even breathe.”

Mitchell grinned. “Hey, A for effort.” There was so much relief in his voice Anders was floored—literally.

His knees gave out, cracking on the floor painfully. Mitchell followed in an attempt to ease the drop, but he wasn’t quite fast enough.

Mitchell pulled him into a hug. “This is going to be a fun trip, isn’t it,” he muttered, resting his chin on the shorter man’s head.

“Oh, the greatest,” Anders said, grinning.


	3. I.III

“What do you mean Ragnarök is starting?” Axl all but shrieked.

            “The longer Odin and Frigg are apart,” Olaf explained calmly. “The more the Jörmungandr wakens.”

            Axl began to pace, running both hands in his hair. “And you didn’t think to tell me this before?”

            “I honestly didn’t think it would happen in our lifetime,” he admitted.

            “Which implies that you thought I would never find Frigg,” Axl accused.

            “Well,” Ty spoke up. “To be fair, it’s been _years_.” He shrugged when Axl glared at him. “Come on, I’m not the only one who’s thinking it. I don’t think you truly want it, Axl.”

            “Of course I do!” Axl protested. “I’m Odin. Out of everyone, I’m probably the one who wants it the most. Frigg is my— _his_ wife. I can’t think of anything else he’d rather have right now than her at his side.”

            “What do we do?” Mike asked finally, turning to Olaf expectantly.

            He shrugged. “I don’t have all the answers, especially about Ragnarök. Anders will be here in a few days,” he said sagely. “He’ll probably know something.”

            The dead silence that followed that comment was heavy and tense. Axl clenched his hands into fists, grinding his teeth together. Ty’s eyes dropped down to the beer bottle he started rolling between his hands.  Mike swallowed thickly.

            Odin’s declaration of Bragi’s banishment brought the unintended banishment of Ander’s as well. (At least, this was a hindsight feeling as told by Ty, and felt by Mike after a long time of thought. Mike didn’t think any of them foresaw Anders actually leaving.)

Axl still held dark thoughts about this certain older brother, and Mike was still a little bitter. Ty, he knew, just missed his brother. Olaf gave no indication in all five years what he felt about Anders’ being gone, but obviously he didn’t have to worry if he had the man’s number.

            “Why would he have answers?” Axl asked.

            Olaf grinned. “He’s been traveling the world for five years, never staying in the same place for long—minus a six month stint in Bristol. I imagine you pick up a few things during that sort of trip.”

            Mike restrained himself from asking why Anders spent so long in Bristol; it wasn’t any of his business (even though it was almost physically painful not to ask. Anders may have been a dick, but he was still his baby brother.).

            “Until then there’s nothing we can do,” Olaf said. “I’m getting nothing on the Oracle side of things. The best thing we can do is—Axl, you go out partying 24 hours and find Frigg before it’s too late.”

            Axl groaned. “This is impossible! There are only so many women in New Zealand. I’ve tried parties, hospitals, wedding planners, and bridal…stuff. She should’ve been there, but she’s nowhere. What if she’s not in a vessel yet? Or her vessel doesn’t turn 21 for another five years? And by the time that happens Ragnarök will all ready have hit.”

            Mike ran a hand over his face, leaving it there to cover his eyes. This was not how he thought he life was going to go when he turned 21 and learned his cousin was his grandpa and Mike was the mortal vessel for the soul of Ullr.

* * *

 

            Ty came home with a nagging feeling at the back of his mind. Dawn was in the kitchen, cooking some sort of stew, and just hanging up the phone with a guilty look on her face.

            “How long have you been in touch with Anders?” Ty asked, plucking the lettuce she was draining from her hands and giving it a shake. He wasn’t angry, he understood. Probably better than Axl or Mike.

            She smiled faintly. “Since he left,” she admitted. “I don’t know where he’s been, but I know how he’s doing.”

            “And how’s he doing?”

            “Pretty good,” she said. “I mean, he’s hit a couple rough patches that he won’t elaborate on, but he’s pretty good.”

            A weight lifted from his shoulders and relief flooded his body. He didn’t know what he was so worried about, though, this was Anders he was talking about. Even minus Bragi, he was pretty influential.

           

            “He sends things sometimes,” Dawn continued. “Boxes to store at his place. The occasional postcard.”

            “That’s what those were?” Ty asked, eyes wide. He never commented on the boxes, he figured it had to do with her family. And he found he didn’t mind that she never told him about all of this. Dawn was an amazing person and Anders was in a fucked up mindset five years ago, it was perfectly understandable, what happened.

            She laughed. “Yeah. He still owns his place, and most of what he sent were books. It’s a little hard to travel with fifteen boxes of bricks trailing behind.”

            Ty laughed as well. Of course, he forgot about that. Anders spent so much time being a complete dick that most people forgot that there were other aspects to his personality as well. One of those things being an avid reader, especially poetry and epics. He still couldn’t figure out if that was Anders or Bragi’s influence.

            Or both.

            “I’m worried,” Ty said. He set the lettuce down slowly, not reaching for anything else.

            Dawn frowned and turned towards him, putting the stew on a low simmer so she wouldn’t have to worry about it. “What are you worried about?”

            “Ragnarök is starting,” he finally told her. “The world is going to end in less than a year because Odin can’t find his Frigg. The gods will be reborn, they always are. But all the mortals are going to die, that’s you and me before we can have a relationship without Höðr getting in the way. I’m worried that the answers Olaf says Anders might have aren’t real and I’m going to lose you before we barely get started.”

            He reached over and cupped her face, bringing her close. She shivered at his touch, making him remember that he was even colder than before. He almost pulled away, but she put her hands over his and smiled.

            “We’ll figure it out,” she assured him.

            “What if we don’t?”

            Dawn didn’t have an answer for that, but Ty didn’t expect her to. He just brought her into a tight hug, forgetting, once again, he was significantly cooler than normal. She just clutched him tighter, pressing her face against his chest.

            “I’m going to Anders’ place tomorrow,” she said, voice muffled. “Air it out, move some boxes so he can actually walk into his own flat. You want to come with me?”

            He rested his cheek on top of her head. “Did he ask you to do this?”

            She shook her head. “No, I offered. You going to join me?”

            “Sure, why not?”

* * *

 

            Mitchell waited outside the public restroom, leaning against the wall with his sunglasses on and his arms crossed. People gave him strange looks when they walked by (after all, who wore sunglasses inside?), but he ignored them. The windows were large enough that it was like he was outside.

            He sighed, scratching his chin. As the seconds went by his worry for Anders grew as he spent more time in the bathroom.

            Heathrow Airport was a layover; an hour before they landed Anders had felt the growing signs of an anxiety attack coming. Once they did actually land he rushed to the bathroom, snapping at Mitchell to wait outside and try to deter anyone from going in. There was another bathroom on the other side so it wouldn’t be too much of a hassle.

            He didn’t mind the tone of voice, having been with Anders for years now and actually being there at the moment that resulted in regular panic and anxiety attacks. Anders was the oh-so-fortunate one to get both often enough it was routine now.

            Ten more minutes passed before Anders stumbled out of the bathroom, looking pale, his breathing a bit faster than normal, and there was a tremble to his hands, but he looked loads better than before.

            Mitchell swung his arm over his shoulders, pulling him close so Anders was tucked against his body. “Better?”

            Anders groaned, wrapping his arm around the vampire’s waist. “Depending on your definition of ‘better.’” He yawned widely, not even bothering to cover his mouth.

            He chuckled. If Anders could joke about it, then he was more definitely feeling better. “You can sleep on the plane,” he told him.

            Anders was about to reply to that when an airport security guard approached them, a strange expression on his face.

            “Sir, are you alright?” His eyes flitted from Mitchell to Anders, his expression growing dark.

            Anders gave him a bright smile. “I’m perfectly fine,” he said, a tinge of power in his voice that could only be Bragi. Mitchell hadn’t heard that in a while. “You’re just overly concerned because your wife is sick as well, you don’t want people feeling the same way you do when your loved one is sick.”

            The guard blinked and nodded. “You’re right,” he said, a slightly dazed look taking over the dark expression. “Take good care of him,” he told Mitchell before he turned heel and walked away.

            “Wow, that was pathetic,” Anders said. “I’m so out of practice.”

            Mitchell rubbed his shoulder. “You’ll pick it back up again,” he assured.

            “I’m going to have it,” he replied. “Considering the fact that, hey, giant snake unwrapping from the world to darken the sky, more gods are going to appear finally—a lot of them not having very good roles in mythology, and we still don’t have a clue where Frigg is. I feel like I’m going to be repeating this for a long, long time.” He shook his head. “And no one can help us. Not Maori, not the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians. No one can, because this is ours. We can’t even help them with theirs when it eventually happens.”

            “Breathe,” Mitchell said. “Anders, its going to be okay. I’m going to be here right next to you. And if it gets too much…we have less than a year, that means we have a little bit of time if you need to get away. I won’t let your brothers browbeat you.”

            Anders shook his head. “I don’t think they will. Axl might still be pissed. Gaia is still Iðunn and I’m going back, I’d be worried if I was him. You know I can’t control Bragi very well. But I think Ty will be fine, we were always close. And Mike should’ve mellowed out by now.” He laughed at the thought.

            Mitchell chuckled, pulling him closer (if it was possible, they were close already), and directed them towards the gate where their flight was waiting. When Anders was busy with the tickets he frowned, he had a feeling this was going to be just as difficult as Anders thought it was going to be.

            And here Mitchell left Bristol not just for Anders, but to get away from the supernatural chaos that spiraled into darkness and tears.

            He utterly failed in that aspect.


	4. I.IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big Reunion next chapter. Promise!

_Four Years and Two Months Ago_

_—ish_

_Bristol_

            Annie opened the door to Mitchell standing on the stoop and a shorter, blond haired man standing next to him, hunched over slightly and listing towards the tall vampire.

            “You must be Anders!” Annie said brightly. “I’ve heard all about you.” At Mitchell’s frantic motions she quickly amended with: “All good things.”

            Anders smiled tiredly. “And here I thought Mitchell was joking when he said he told his other flat mate all about me.” A strange expression flitted across his face. “Hey, Annie,” he said, something weird in his voice. “Could you get me a beer?”

            She faltered before saying; “You’re on medications, right? You can’t drink.”

            Mitchell laughed. “Told you,” he said. “I told you it wouldn’t work on her.”

            “A ghost, a vampire, and a werewolf live in a flat together,” Anders said, much to Annie’s shock.

Anders knew about them? That must mean he was probably something supernatural as well…and very trustworthy, Mitchell didn’t tell just anyone. He definitely didn’t invite just anyone to stay either.

“Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke,” he continued with a laugh. His amusement turned to a wince of pain; he put a hand to his chest and let out a little groan. “Oh, don’t make laugh,” he said. “It hurts.”

Mitchell rolled his eyes before grabbing the shorter man’s shoulder and shoving him gently into the flat. “All right, all right. You tried even though I told you you’d fail. Let’s get some meds in you and you into bed.”

Annie trailed after them as Mitchell poured a glass of water, ordered Anders to take his meds, and allowed the stranger to sleep in the vampire’s bed. The last time she saw Mitchell at like this was when George had a bad run in with some vampires. He was gentle and fond, tiptoeing around so he wouldn’t rile the man up.

It was endearing and strange at the same time.

She followed him downstairs. “Okay, what’s the deal?” She asked when they made it to the kitchen. She started making tea, moving like she’d done it a thousand times before (which was a pretty close number). “I heard all about him—stuff he liked to read, food, colour, the works—but how did how did you meet? How did he get hurt? Why is he at our place?”

Mitchell took a deep breath, accepting the first mug of tea from her. “He was beat up pretty bad. I have no idea how he made it to the hospital,” he admitted. “He won’t tell me what happened or who did it to him, but I guess we got to talking. He was always awake, never sleeping. The fact that he’s sleeping upstairs right now is a miracle.”

“Does George know about this?”

He nodded, running a hand through his hair. “He’s actually the one who suggested it. Well, after Nina told him to.” He smirked. “Anders isn’t fully healed and not exactly…stable. Whoever did this to him did a pretty through job.”

She stared at him, grinning unabashedly.

Mitchell eyed her warily. “What?”

“You like him,” she squealed.

He choked on the mouthful of tea he just tried to swallow. “What? No I don’t!” But he ducked his head in embarrassment, a mortal trait he’d yet to shake off even after a hundred plus years and no blood pumping through his veins.

She laughed loudly. “Oh this is perfect!” She crowed. “And what’s even more perfect is that he knows that you’re a vampire, I’m a ghost, and George’s a werewolf yet he’s still willing to actually sleep here.” She sobered a bit when she said that and her eyes narrowed. “What is he? Another vampire?”

Mitchell shook his head. “Not even close. He’s a god.”

Annie actually let out a squeak. “A _god_?” She whispered.

“Norse god to be exact,” he said. “Bragi, God of poetry. He can bend mortals to his will with a spoken word. Figured it out by accident when I got to witness him use Bragi on a doctor, but it didn’t work on Nina or George. Then it just went on from there.”

“What are the odds of that?” She pulled her shirt closer around her and crossed her arms. “I still don’t understand why he’s here. What if they come back? If someone could beat a god that badly, I would think they could take on a vampire or a werewolf.”

Mitchell shrugged. “He seems to think that he’s pretty safe,” he said then added, a little quieter with a little bit of awe: “And he seems to trust me.”

Annie smiled fondly. Mitchell only really had her and George—sometimes Nina when she wasn’t being so…Nina. It was nice to see him growing attached to someone else and he didn’t seem so worried about the bloodlust thing, so she wondered if something happened about that. She also hoped that Anders didn’t do something stupid and trend on Mitchell like a doormat. If he did, god or not, she would rip out his heart and feed it to George’s werewolf.

“This is okay?” Mitchell asked suddenly. “I know George is okay with it for, like, the next month. I’m seeing if he can expand on that. But are you okay?”

“The next month?” She raised an eyebrow. “Or longer? What do you expect to come out of this, Mitchell?” He ducked his head again making her giggle. “And of course I’m alright with it, as long as he’s a better roommate than Tully was.”

“Definitely,” he assured, he was smiling so widely Annie was almost blinded by the happiness.

Too bad there was a sinking feeling in her stomach that something terrible was going to happen. Maybe not tomorrow or next week, but something was coming and it wasn’t going to be pretty.

* * *

 

            Anders left ten months ago yet Mike still hadn’t opened the letter his brother left for him. He knew Ty read his right away and Axl was going to throw his away until Gaia stopped him (that just wanted to make him throw it away even more but Dawn and Ty both spoke up about it). Olaf didn’t get one, but grandpa didn’t seem to worried about it.

            Mike just couldn’t bring himself to read it. There were so many cruel words Anders could write and he didn’t think he could have those on top of him leaving so abruptly.

            He understood what Olaf said, about Bragi and Iðunn basically drawn to each other and Anders and Gaia just being along for the ride—but, at the same time, he felt as if Anders could have tried harder. Oh no, the blame wasn’t solely on him; Gaia was as much to blame in that aspect as well. But Anders was a master at self-control, yes even when sex was involved. The only time he wasn’t in control was during major arguments with the rest of his family—especially when the subject matter had to do with Valerie, Elizabet, and/or Johan.

            So him leaving like he did was out of character, Mike expect him to still hang around despite the banishment. Even with the chaos with their family before Anders opened JPR right there in town.

            But he needed to know what Anders’ last words were to him. Even if they were full of hate.

            Mike sighed and opened the envelope, sliding the piece of paper out with casual care. When he flipped the folded flaps something fluttered out, landing face out on his counter. It was a small, old picture of him, Anders, and Ty. Ty was in Anders’ arms and Mike had an arm thrown over his shoulders. Elizabet must have taken the picture; she was their mother still before Axl was born, before Mike became 21, and before she lost it to become a tree.

They looked so damn happy, even little Ty even though he probably had no idea what was going on. This was back when Anders and him were still so close.

He smiled and picked the photo up, holding it up so he could get a better look. When were the last time any of them smiled like that? Full of love, happiness, and innocence?

A damn long time, he sighed again.

He put it down and properly unfolded the letter this time around. Anders’ words neat and tidy—he had been so proud of his handwriting, especially after creating JPR. He didn’t hear much directly, but Ty conveyed a lot of things. One of those being how happy Anders didn’t have to completely change his writing style and that it was already legible.

_Mike—_

_You’re a dick. I’m a dick too. So I think we’re equal dicks in this situation. Yeah, yeah, I’m not telling you I’m leaving, but that’s for the best. What I’ve done—to you through Valarie that time a long time ago… I was trying to do…something. What I have been doing since then—Right now I’m not quite sure what I am doing, but I swear I’m not trying to hurt you. I maybe a dick to you, but there are things even I won’t do. What I’ve done to make you hate me like this, I’m sorry. I won’t give up on looking for Frigg, I know Axl just turned 21 so there’s not really much to go one, but I won’t give up. But I don’t think I’m much use just staying around._

_Yeah, so, I guess I’m sorry about everything. I think I’ll come back, one day. Let Axl and Ty know I don’t hate them and I’m sorry to them as well for not telling them. Tell Olaf the same, though I think he already knows with his freaky Oracle shit._

_Again, sorry. I could say I love you, but that’s pretty gay. But…yeah, I guess I love you. Try not to keep hating me._

_—Anders_

            Mike let the letter slip from his fingers. Anders had been planning on leaving even back then? Right after Axl turned 21, so long ago but not really. He wrote a letter and everything? Didn’t even bother writing a new one?

            He didn’t even know if he should feel angry about this or incredibly sad. Both sounded good at the moment.

            He ran a hand down his face, staring at the letter. How could he have missed this? How could he be—how could he be so fucking blind? Anders was slowly spiraling down, he would have never written a letter like this if he weren’t, and he didn’t even notice.

            What was worse was Anders sat down and wrote this letter at that point in time. He was deliberating and actively thinking about whether he would leave or not. This time around he just got up and left without a thought that lasted more than a day. That meant so much, that Anders stopped spiraling and ended up cracking so hard that another hit he would shatter.

            Now he was glad Dawn and Ty kept Axl from throwing his letter away, and he wanted to know more than ever what Ty’s letter said.

            More than that, he wanted Anders to come back so he could smack him up side the head then hug him tightly like he would never let him go—and he probably wouldn’t.


	5. I.V

_Present Day_

It took two days to completely air out Anders’ place; Dawn wanted to be absolutely through. She also wanted to arrange all the books on their shelves. Eventually they finished just in time for Olaf to announce that a Thing had been called, taking place deep in the woods where the Johnson brothers first became gods. Everyone was to attend, including the two mortals Dawn and Zeb.

            “That something Anders said?” Ty asked. The only reason they would have a Thing now with everyone was if Anders was coming.

            Olaf hummed, sounding a little high. “Nope,” he answered, popping the ‘p.’ “Odin’s. Since those two are so close to so many gods Axl’s decided they shouldn’t be kept in the dark. They have just as much to lose as we do. Anders is meeting us there.”

            So Dawn and Ty finished up the last box of books, broke down all the cardboard, and locked up behind them—wouldn’t want anyone to break in a steal any of those surprisingly expensive books.

            Ty was a bit nervous about this Thing mostly because of seeing Anders again after five years and then also because the subject of the thing was the apocalypse. Who wouldn’t be nervous about the apocalypse?

            Dawn tangled their arms together and she leaned against him. “Everything will be okay,” she murmured. “We’re cutting it a little close, but I think we’ll be okay.”

            He smiled and kissed the top of her head as they walked away from the building.

* * *

 

            Mike hesitated at the tree line, Michele already heading in when she realized he wasn’t following. She stopped and glanced back?

            “What are you waiting for?” She asked. “You can’t be that scared of seeing your brother? I know he’s a dick, but I doubt he’ll attack you.”

            He took a deep breath and started walking. Some big brother he made, scared to face a man only a few year younger than him. Worst yet, aforementioned man was his little brother. Axl may be the youngest, then Ty, but Anders would always be his baby brother.

            Mike had read Anders’ letter again before they left. Even after four years he still couldn’t believe Anders was ready to leave right after Axl turned 21, almost as if he’d been waiting for the last Johnson to turn into a god.

            Axl, Ty, and the rest were waiting for them just before the clearing was in view. They were strangely silent. Derrick and Colin and a few others decided not to show—and now that he thought about it, for being Thor Derrick was strangely absent a lot. Mike should get Odin to look in on that, wouldn’t want the guy who was suppose to kill the Jörmungandr to not show up when he needed to.

            There was a collective silence and uneasiness that actually made Mike grin. Anders would get a kick out of the fact that he’s the one that caused such a commotion. Anders was Anders and he loved being in the center of attention, this was a part of his brother he was positive about.

            Olaf suddenly let out a bark of laughter, a wide grin on his face, Ingrid snorted and shook her head, putting her arm through his.

            “That boy,” she murmured.

            They came upon the clearing and two men were standing near a tree closest to the edge.

Anders looked haggard, skinnier than five years ago with light shadows under his eyes. But there was a smile on his face and a light in his eyes Mike couldn’t remember seeing

            He hadn’t seen them yet, too busy carving something into the tree and laughing at something a tall, dark haired man was saying. The stranger also had a smile on his face. Together they looked like too over-burdened people whose happiness was found in each other. That thought left a heavy feeling in Mike’s chest, one he couldn’t define.

            “Anders!” Dawn shouted, charging down the slight slop. She had to pick up her skirt a bit so she wouldn’t trip, but she managed to get down without incident. “I missed you.” She threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

            Anders caught her and spun her around, laughing loudly and unrestrained. Gods, how long has it been since Mike heard that? “I missed you too,” he said, setting her down lightly. “Long time no see.”

            The tall stranger nudged Anders and jerked his head to the rest of the group when the blond looked at him. “There’s other people around, you know.”

            Anders stuffed his hands in his pockets with his shoulders creeping up to his ears, suddenly looking incredibly shy. “Hey,” he said casually. “Glad you could make it.”

            Gaia stiffened next to Axl and Axl leaned back a bit, but they were the only ones to hold back when everyone else crowded around to great Anders and his friend. Even Michele seemed happy he was back, but, then again, she had to deal with Mike and his occasional moping.

            (Which Mike would completely and utterly deny until the day he died.)

            Olaf clapped a hand on Anders’ shoulder, leaning over to study the eight marks carved into the tree. “A variation on Elder Futhhark rune reading,” he commented. Mike had no idea what the hell he just said, but Anders was nodding. “Protection.” He pointed to one. “I highly doubt this Mannaz means you, right? All  Man, the ones who were not listened but still need protection.”

            Anders nodded. “Yeah, I don’t know how well it’s going to work, but I’d rather try than not.”

            “Never mind that!” Stacey said impatiently. “Where the hell have you been? What the hell have you been doing? And who the hell is this?” She waved a hand towards the tall stranger.

            The stranger chuckled. “I’m Mitchell,” he said, words thick with an Irish accent. Mike never heard one except when he watched Harry Potter one time. Was it Harry Potter? “From Bristol. Decided to follow this idiot around the world.”

            “And you know who we are?” Ty asked doubtfully. “What we are?”

            Mitchell nodded. “Yeah, I do. I witnessed Anders using Bragi on someone. I charmed him first so he didn’t try on me to forget.” He yelped when Anders pinched him. “Ow, you bastard!” But he was grinning, as was Anders.

            “Don’t listen to a word he says,” Anders said. “He’s a known liar.”

            Dawn laughed and hugged him again. “Your place is all ready for the two of you. Ty and I fixed it up earlier.”

            “You’re brilliant, Dawn,” Anders said. “I really appreciate it.”

            That was when Axl and Gaia (And Zeb, you could never really forget him) finally came close to the group surrounding Anders and Mitchell. Axl was glaring at his brother and Gaia was wringing her hands together nervously.

            “Axl, Gaia,” Anders greeted them neutrally. “How’s it going?”

            Gaia gave him a small smile. “Pretty great.” She moved closer to Axl as if to drive the point further. “How about you?”

            Anders’ smile was larger than hers and a lot more self-assured (Nothing new there).) “Fantastic.” The corner of his mouth quirked down slightly. “Do you feel anything?” HE asked, gesturing between them. “Anything at all? The pull of Iðunn and Bragi?”

            She hesitated before shaking her head, much to the shock of everyone present. “No, I don’t.”

            “How can that be?” Dawn asked. “The whole thing between them is what caused this problem in the first place. How do you stop thousands of years of love and marriage?”

            “It is possible,” Olaf said. “Obviously. I would assume magic is involved some how.”

            Anders nodded. “Axl, you should be happy to know I that I won’t be boning your fiancée any time soon.” Mitchell nudged him and he shoved back without even look at him. “What? I won’t sugar coat it, it’s good news so I don’t have to!”

            Axl stepped forward cautiously. “How does it work?”

            “A seal of sorts,” Anders said, eyeing his brother warily like he was scared Axl was going to throw him into a pile of rubbish and inadvertently kill him again. “I finally figured it out two years ago. But basically it breaks bonds and forages new ones to replace the broken one. And I’ve reinforced it a dozen times over. Bragi doesn’t like it, but he let me do it any way on the condition it didn’t interfere with him and Iðunn when they finally got back to Asgard. For all Iðunn knows, Bragi doesn’t exist at the moment, to her he hasn’t been reborn in a new vessel yet.”

            Axl narrowed his eyes, glancing from Anders to Mitchell. “Can I see it?”

            Anders pulled don the collar of his shirt, a few buttons coming undone to reveal a circular tattoo about the size of a bottle cap right over his heart. IT was made up of different symbols, the Norse ones were easy to spot, but there were Greek and Egyptian, and a few others Mike didn’t recognize.

            “I promise, Axl,” Anders said in a way that could be called earnest. “Nothing will happen. It’s in my best interests to stay away from Gaia and Iðunn. His eyes flicked toward Mitchell, confirming Mike’s suspicions.

            Axl relaxed a bit at that statement, probably not full comprehending what was going on between his brother and this Mitchell, but as long as he wasn’t going to sleep with Gaia again everything would be oaky. “All right,” he said slowly. “I believe you.”

            Anders laughed. “Thank you, oh gracious Odin,” he said sarcastically. “How would I have ever gone on with my life without your belief and forgiveness?” He grabbed Mitchell’s arm, tugging him closer. “Now, if you don’t mind. I only wanted to do this thing today to explain the Iðunn thing. Right now, we’re tired as shit. So we’re going to and sleep and we’ll meet up again tomorrow to discuss Ragnarök? That sound good to everyone else? Good,” he said without waiting for an answer.

            Then he turned heel and left the way he came, with no drama or theatrics. It made Mike feel fairly empty—Anders didn’t hug any of his brothers, not even Ty. He barely even spoke to any of them except Axl. He didn’t even look at Mike.

            “What does the tree say?” Michele asked, breaking the awkward silence. “What did Anders do?”

            Olaf leaned over to take a closer look. “They’re variations, but closes to Elder Futhhark. Which I said. This one is Algiz, it means protection. The fact that it’s above all the others it’s suppose to be an umbrella protection. This one, Mannaz is Self. It means all man or the individual, I’m going to guess all man this time around considering it was Anders who wrote it. Ansuz is basically Odin’s symbol, so that’s Axl. Isa is generally used for ice and a few other things. It reinforces the rest of the symbols, this is Ty. Eihwaz is strength and reliability, so this is probably Mike. This one is mine, Laguz, it’s very oracle. Dagaz is Dawn, in more ways than one. And Uruz I’m going to guess is Anders’ Mitchell.”

            “And this is suppose to protect us?” Gaia asked.

            Olaf shrugged. “According to the way it’s set up, yes, but these runes are normally for casting. He put a variation on them to make them actually work. It won’t be powerful, but it might be enough.”

            Mike frowned. “What is he preparing for, though?” He asked. “And why isn’t a symbol for him on that tree too?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Elder Futhark Used in this chapter thanks to sunnyway.com. In order of listed: (Merkstave means the rune is reversed, but that doesn't necessarily mean opposite affect):
> 
> Algiz:Protection, a shield. The protective urge to shelter oneself or others. Defense, warding off of evil, shield, guardian. Connection with the gods, awakening, higher life. It can be used to channel energies appropriately. Follow your instincts. Keep hold of success or maintain a position won or earned. Algiz Reversed: or Merkstave: Hidden danger, consumption by divine forces, loss of divine link. Taboo, warning, turning away, that which repels.
> 
> Mannaz: The Self; the individual or the human race. Your attitude toward others and their attitudes towards you. Friends and enemies, social order. Intelligence, forethought, create, skill, ability. Divine structure, intelligence, awareness. Expect to receive some sort of aid or cooperation now. Mannaz Reversed or Merkstave: Depression, mortality, blindness, self-delusion. Cunning, slyness, manipulation, craftiness, calculation. Expect no help now.
> 
>  
> 
> Ansuz (Odin): A revealing message or insight, communication. Signals, inspiration, enthusiasm, speech, true vision, power of words and naming. Blessings, the taking of advice. Good health, harmony, truth, wisdom. Ansuz Reversed or Merkstave: Misunderstanding, delusion, manipulation by others, boredom. Vanity and grandiloquence. (Odin is a mighty, but duplicitous god. He always has his own agenda.)
> 
> Isa (Ty): A challenge or frustration. Psychological blocks to thought or activity, including grievances. Standstill, or a time to turn inward and wait for what is to come, or to seek clarity. This rune reinforces runes around it. Isa Merkstave (Isa cannot be reversed, but may lie in opposition): Ego-mania, dullness, blindness, dissipation. Treachery, illusion, deceit, betrayal, guile, stealth, ambush, plots.
> 
> Eihwaz (Mike): Strength, reliability, dependability, trustworthiness. Enlightenment, endurance. Defense, protection. The driving force to acquire, providing motivation and a sense of purpose. Indicates that you have set your sights on a reasonable target and can achieve your goals. An honest man who can be relied upon. Eihwaz Reversed or Merkstave: Confusion, destruction, dissatisfaction, weakness.
> 
> Laguz (Olaf): Flow, water, sea, a fertility source, the healing power of renewal. Life energy and organic growth. Imagination and psychic matters. Dreams, fantasies, mysteries, the unknown, the hidden, the deep, the underworld. Success in travel or acquisition, but with the possibility of loss. Laguz Reversed or Merkstave: An indication of a period of confusion in your life. You may be making wrong decisions and poor judgements. Lack of creativity and feelings of being in a rut. Fear, circular motion, avoidance, withering. Madness, obsession, despair, perversity, sickness, suicide.
> 
> Dagaz (Dawn): Breakthrough, awakening, awareness. Daylight clarity as opposed to nighttime uncertainty. A time to plan or embark upon an enterprise. The power of change directed by your own will, transformation. Hope/happiness, the ideal. Security and certainty. Growth and release. Balance point, the place where opposites meet. Dagaz Merkstave (Dagaz cannot be reversed, but may lie in opposition): A completion, ending, limit, coming full circle. Blindness, hopelessness.
> 
> Uruz (Mitchell):Physical strength and speed, untamed potential. A time of great energy and health. Freedom, energy, action, courage, strength, tenacity, understanding, wisdom. Sudden or unexpected changes (usually for the better). Sexual desire, masculine potency. The shaping of power and pattern, formulation of the self. Uruz Reversed or Merkstave: Weakness, obsession, misdirected force, domination by others. Sickness, inconsistency, ignorance. Lust, brutality, rashness, callousness, violence.
> 
> Also, remember: these are generally used for runecasting/divination. I loved these words and their meaning so I had Anders use a made up "variation" of each one so I could put them in. This is not an accurate use of these, so, please, don't hurt me!


	6. I.VI

Axl stood in the kitchen, a beer in hand and contemplating life, the universe, and everything. (Alright, not really, but close).

            “I can’t believe it,” Gaia said quietly. “I felt _nothing_. Before there was this pull I couldn’t ignore even though I wanted to. But just then…there was like this void where Bragi was suppose to be. A blank space.”

            He was only listening to her with half a ear, too busy focusing on his thoughts about Anders. His brother had looked absolutely terrible—thing and tired and favouring his side—it looked like he’d been through hell and back. Which, for all he knew, Anders actually did.

            Despite all their differences, the Johnson brothers never went too long without seeing at least one of each other. When Anders left the family just after his 21st he was really only avoiding Mike, Axl and Ty still saw him occasionally. When Mike buggered off with Val and Rob, leaving Anders to take care of Ty and Axl, he still stopped by now and then.

            Anders being gone for these five years with absolutely no contact with anyone but Olaf and probably Dawn was the longest any Johnson went without at least on of them minus the years Mike was an only child before Anders was born.

            Despite Ax’s anger and disgust, he felt an empty space in his chest when Anders left. That space got even bigger when Anders barely looked at his brothers—even Ty and Ty was always Anders’ favourite. He knew Mike probably felt the same as Axl and Ty wasn’t going to let Anders’ reaction stand. If he has Dawn as a buffer then the meeting would go smoothly.

            “Axl,” Gaia said gently, understandingly. He glanced over to see her holding out an unopened envelope, slightly yellowed at the edges from the years. “Maybe you should read it now? Better late than never, right?” She handed it to him. “I’m going out with Michele, Stacey, and Ingrid. God only knows we need some girl time and alcohol. I’ll be home late.” She kissed him then left.

            He watched her go with a smile. They had been rough for the first year after Anders left. Understandable since Odin banished Iðunn’s husband and Gaia was pissed he banished his own brother, his family. It took a long time before she forgave him. He had almost hated Anders even more, not only did he sleep with his fiancée, but he drove them apart as well. But then they were fine and he went back just just hating him less than he could.

            Axl glanced down at the letter, unsure if he should read it. It felt wrong now. He waited so long, what is just made him angry at Anders again after time mellowed him out?—not to mention, after what lengths Anders did to make sure Bragi and Iðunn never clashed together in a bed ever again?

            He sighed. For his sake and his brothers’…he probably should.

            Axl unsealed the envelope and pulled out the letter. He opened with closed eyes, hesitating. Then he opened them and read:

_Axl—_

_Sorry, bro._

_Have a good life with Gaia, she’s the perfect woman even if she’s not Frigg. I hope Frigg is understanding when you find her because you’ll probably divorce the vessel as soon as the gods are all back in Asgard. I don’t blame you._

_If I could’ve stopped this all from happening before it happened, I would’ve. I may be a dick, but I try not to be_ that _much of a dick._

_Again: sorry, bro. Don’t expect to hear that again. Tell Gaia I’m sorry. Though she should already know that._

_—Anders_

Axl swallowed thickly. Here Anders was apologizing politely when he was most likely pissed off and hurt beyond words. Yet he shot himself down, apologized for something Olaf and Ty spent hours trying to explain (Axl didn’t listen, he hadn’t want to listen to them spew words just to defend Anders), and wished him a good life with the woman who housed Bragi’s wife.

            He sat down heavily on a chair. While he still may not forgive Anders completely (He didn’t have to call Gaia and meet up with her), he knew some of the blame was on Gaia. He knew all the blame was on the gods.

            Maybe he hated his brother even less now. Axl was ignorant, he knew that. So many people accused him of that even if they feared Odin’s wrath raining down on their asses. He spent so long refusing to forgive Anders that he was finding it hard to forgive him now after years for the anger to fade and finally reading this letter and seeing the state of him.

            God, he caused his brother to be in such a state.

             (Later he would realize the impact Mitchell had on him, the same Mitchell Anders would have never met if it weren’t for Axl’s actions. But for right now he didn’t think of that)

            He shook his head, determinations setting in. If Anders had an idea of how to find Frigg before it was too late he was not going to dismiss his brother. He was going to listen and follow what he said.

            As of right now, that was all he could do. He couldn’t truly do anything until he got Anders alone, and he had a feeling that was going to be fairly difficult.

            But he was going to make right by his brother, he had to.

* * *

 

            Ty knocked on the door, Dawn standing behind him with her hands on his shoulders. She all but pushed him in front of him when she realized he was going to make her be the one to greet Anders when he opened the door.

            There was no answer.

            He glanced back at her. “Maybe they’re sleeping,” he suggested. “They were in New York.”

            “Try again,” Dawn urged. “If no one answers. Call them; tell them we have food if they pick up. If they don’t then we’ll leave.”

            Ty sighed and knocked again. He waited five minutes before he took the phone Dawn offered (realizing he didn’t actually know Anders’ new number. Did he have a new number?). It took two rings before someone answered.

            “’lo?” That most definitely wasn’t Anders. So it could only be Mitchell.

            “It’s Ty,” he said. “Anders’ brother. And Dawn. We come bearing food.”

            Mitchell grumbled something before Ty heard the rustle of sheets and him saying, “Anders. Wake up. You want food?”

            Anders’ groan was loud enough that Ty could hear, making him smother a chuckle before Anders got wind of it. “If I say yes can I go back to sleep?”

            “No,” Mitchell said, having no qualms about laughing. “Because Ty and Dawn are here and they’re the ones with the food.”

            “Okay, okay. Just give me a minute.”

            “I’ll me there in a second,” Mitchell said with amusement in his voice. “Hold up.” Then he hung up with no farewell.

            Ty gave Dawn her phone back, recounting everything for her. Dawn laughed at Anders’ antics, though she looked concerned.

            “It took them a few days to get here,” she said. “It’s not like they were on a super long flight. And jetlag actually don’t bother Anders as much as he makes it out to.”

            Mitchell chose that time to open the door, looking exhausted and rather young in sweatpants, a tank top, and wool, fingerless gloves. He grinned at them though and opened the door wider to let them in. “Thanks for bringing food,” he said. “We both just passed out when we got here. Probably wouldn’t have woken up if you hadn’t called.”

            Anders stumbled out of the bedroom looking sleep rumbled and bleary eyed. He gave them a semi-sarcastic salute before collapsing onto the couch. “Welcome, welcome, make yourselves at home. Oh, and thanks for arranging my books. I was worried we’d have to deal with stubbed toes.”

            “It was no problem,” Dawn assured him. She took the bag Ty was holding and handed it Mitchell, much to his surprise. “Can you help me in the kitchen, Mitchell?”

            He raised an eyebrow but didn’t question her, just nodded. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to the top of Anders’ head before he followed Dawn to the kitchen, leaving Ty and Anders alone in the living room.

            “You seem happy,” Ty said, sitting on the other side of the couch.

            Anders snorted. “Do I?”    

            He nodded. “Not healthy,” he amended. “But happy. I wasn’t expecting Mitchell, but as long as you’ve got that light in your eyes I’m okay with everything.”

            Anders gave him a strange look. “That’s a weird way of putting it.” He angled his head so he could peek into the kitchen. “But, yeah, I guess I am happy. Probably wouldn’t have survived this long without him.”

            Ty eyed his brother, taking in the bags under his eyes and how hollow his face seemed. He had a few new scars on his face and arms, a shiny patch of skin peeking from under the collar of his shirt. Anders must have had it roughed and as much as it pained him that he couldn’t be there for him, Ty was glad he had at least someone.

            “How was the world?” He asked awkwardly.

            Anders twisted so his feet were on Ty’s lap and his head was propped up by the armrest. “Big,” he said, closing his eyes. “Complicated. Do you know how hare it is to haggle for a German edition of the Odyssey? The copy I wanted wasn’t even that priceless, he was asking for way too much!”

            Ty laughed. Only Anders. “What did you find out about the Ragnarök? Olaf said you had some information?” He put his hands on Anders’ bare feet, waited a moment to see if he would be kicked away, and when he wasn’t, he relaxed.

 Normally Anders would protest even during his best moments, he hated being cold and his feet were the most sensitive and Ty just happened to be Höðr. But now they were all the same temperature and Anders seemed to be in a fantastic mood.

            Anders opened one eye to stare at him. “We all know Ragnarök can be postponed when we find Frigg,” he said. “I say postponed because if it happens here or on Asgard, we still kind of die no matter how hard Odin and Thor try. A few more gods are going to appear even though their stories don’t match the timeline, they have to eventually happen.”

            “Do you know where she is?” Ty asked.

            “Maybe,” Anders said. “I was going to call around tomorrow morning it confirm. I still am, I was just expecting more sleep.” He groaned, letting his head fall back. “Fuck, I’m tired.”

            Ty grabbed Anders’ ankle in concern. “Why are you so tired?” He murmured.

            Anders waved a lazy hand. “Reasons,” he said.

            He was silent for a minute. Normally Anders would say ‘Reasons, brother dear.’ He loved saying ‘brother’ sarcastically because it was a way to mock the way people wrote the gods’ dialogue in comic books and novels. This would’ve been the perfect time to say it, when the good mood is in the air.

            Dawn and Mitchell walked in with plates in their hands. Mitchell hesitated when he saw Ty on the couch. The Johnson took the hint and moved to the other couch where Dawn was already sitting down.

            Mitchell sat down, putting the plates on the coffee table, and maneuvered Anders so he was sitting up. His brother just let him, grinning faintly as Mitchell muttered insults under his breath.

            “You’re funny,” Anders mumbled. He patted Mitchell’s cheek. “Thanks for the food.”

            Mitchell smirked at him. “I wouldn’t want you to get it yourself. You’ll be groaning and whining the whole way. I wanted to save my patience.”

            Dawn muffled a laughed while Ty didn’t even bother. Anders glared at them.

            “Yeah, yeah, take his side. See if I care.” He picked up his plate, standing to do so, and Ty thought he was going to move to the armchair. Instead he promptly sat on Mitchell’s lap after moving the Irishman’s plate out of arm’s reach. “Ha.”

            “Anders!” Mitchell struggled to get around Anders, but he didn’t seem to be able to (Ty had a thought that Mitchell wasn’t actually trying, Anders was easy to overpower most of the time). He finally gave up and tried to steal pieces from Anders’ plate. He got one or two before Anders even noticed and pulled the plate away. “Oh come on, that’s not fair.”

            “It’s very fair,” Anders said nonchalantly. “Now, what do we say at times like this?”

            Mitchell groaned good-naturally, dropping his head to Anders’ shoulder and his arms coming to wrap around his waist. He whispered something in Anders’ ear that Ty couldn’t hear, but Anders nodded.

            “Good boy.” He leaned over and moved the plate closer, slipping off Mitchell’s lap but still pressed close.

            “I hate you sometimes,” Mitchell said.

            “No you don’t!” Anders replied brightly.

            “How long have you two been together?” Dawn asked.

 Ty was glad she was the one who asked, he was still too stunned by the display of domestic affection and teasing. He knew Anders and Helen did less than sex sometimes, but it wasn’t always in front of people and they had a tendency to turn vulgar in the best of times.

Mitchell glanced at Anders. “About four years? Give or take a few months. The beginning was a bit chaotic.”

            Anders nodded. “Yeah, just a bit.” He took a bite and swallowed it. “So are you guys here to interrogate us or can we watch a movie or something? I’m not in the mood to do much else.”

            Dawn and Ty agreed to the movie quickly, Dawn was chosen to pick it out since she probably was going to pick a comedy. A little non-tense laughter would be good for all of them.

            Thirty minutes into the move Ty glanced over to see Anders fast asleep and Mitchell heading in that direction, his head dipping down then jerking it back up. They looked absolutely adorable and that was a sort of weird thought.

            This was not what he expected when Anders finally came home. Not at all. He thought it would be more like when he went on his secret quest for the Yggdrasil. He’d come back all cocky like he’d never left, Mike would bunch him in the face, and they would all fall back to their routine.

            This time it was different and Anders seemed shattered, close to falling apart and the only thing keeping him together was the stranger the Johnsons just met and knew nothing about yet he knew almost everything about them.

            While Ty was glad someone was there for him, it hurt that it wasn’t any of his brothers.


	7. I.VII

            Dawn woke up slowly, still on Anders’ couch with Ty curled around her. She stretched as much as he would allow her then carefully extracted herself from his grasp. A thick blanket slid off her, she glanced over to see a pillow with a dip in it and another on under Ty’s head. Someone must have been a good host then.

The other couch was empty of both Anders and Mitchell. She touched it only to find it cold. Dawn padded quietly to the bedroom to see Mitchel sleeping alone, spread eagle on his back and snoring quietly. She laughed quietly before heading to the kitchen.

Anders was in there, a cup of coffee in one hand and his mobile in the other. He hung up when he saw her. She ignored the twinge in her chest at that. Instead she poured her own coffee, accepting the cream he held out to her.

“Sorry for falling asleep on your couch,” she said. “And thanks for letting us stay. You could’ve kicked us out no problem.”

“I could never kick you out, Dawn,” Anders said, taking a set at the bar. “Though, Ty on the other hand. Just say the word and I’ll literally kick him. I may not be able to hit hard, but I’ve got a mean swing in my leg.”

Dawn laughed. “You wouldn’t do that to your own brother, would you?”

Anders hesitated, the smile falling into a thin frown. “I wouldn’t,” he said quietly. He fiddled with his mug.

“Anders,” she said gently, trying to get him to look at her. “Did Odin’s banishment keep you from family?” She never did get the exact wording the banishment was in, no one wanted to talk about.

He shrugged. “Kind of? It was a mixture of ‘I’d wish you stop hurting everyone you know’ to  ‘For once in your life love someone as much as I love Gaia and you’ll learn how much you’re hurting me now’ and a bit of ‘Don’t you dare say we’re family!’” He took a sip of his drink. “He didn’t make it official enough, but there was enough power for an impact. I can still hurt people I know, the love thing is a little muddled, and, yeah, the family thing. I can’t say anything in direct relation. Sure, in Bristol I’ve got a brother, but once I’ve made it to the same country, I’ve got no family whatsoever.”

Dawn paid attention to how he worded his sentences. She didn’t know if he was right, but it seemed he didn’t want to risk it. She would have words with Axl when she got the chance; get him to take back every mean word he said on that day.

“So I called around,” Anders said, changing the subject. “That thing we’re having today, we’ll be able to find Frigg finally.”

“That’s great!” As a mortal she would forget the gods and their vessels, but Ty had a plan. One she completely had faith in. She wanted this chaos to be organized as much as the gods did. “Can you tell me now or is it a secret?”

“Secret,” Anders said with a mischievous smirk on his face. “Now let’s wake the lazy boys and go out for some breakfast, huh? Then I’m getting Ty to call everyone else.”

Dawn smirked back before heading to the kitchen while Anders went to the bedroom.

* * *

 

            This time they gathered at Mike’s bar, where the alcohol and food was. It seemed Anders only wanted to meet in the woods yesterday so it would be a less personal meeting. (though how less-personal could you get meeting in a place where you all became gods?)

“The God Hunters have Frigg,” Anders announced. “I called around this morning, though I had an idea earlier. But that’s why we can’t find her. They want to prove that what we are is blasphemous and untrue, that the world isn’t going end on our terms but Christianity’s with the Judeo-Christian Apocalypse.”

            “And, what? These earthquakes are just natural disasters?” Axl exclaimed.

            Mitchel snorted. “Pretty much. They aren’t known for their intelligence. What they don’t know is the world ends a thousand times over in different mythologies. The way it works is you can either have it happen or you can advert it. Most myths are the going through with it, the ones not recorded are the ones adverted.”

            Olaf frowned. “So you’re saying that Ragnarök could happen, but so could the Christian one? At the same time?”

            “No, just…eventually,” Anders said awkwardly. “They have a tendency not to pile up on each other. Give the gods a chance. How nice of the universe, huh?”

            “So how do we find her?” Mike asked. “I know the God Hunters figured out how to block Ullr from finding anything and anyone.”

            Anders smirked. “That’s where a little thing from Norway comes in handy. I felt like Red Skull trying to track this down, it was brilliant.” He grimaced. “Except for the comparison to Red Skull. Remind me not to do that again,” he said to Mitchell.

            “No promises,” Mitchell said, grinning. “You’re reaction was too funny not to see again.”

            Anders stuck his tongue out childishly, causing everyone to laugh. He pulled out a circular disk from his pocket, it was etched with Nordic runes (completely unlike the Elder Futhhark he used for the protection) and a white gem—not a diamond—was set in the center. “By using this,” he said. “This is Frigg’s star. Based on the stars that make up Orion’s belt. Traditionally it’s called _Friggerock,_ or Frigg’s Distaff. Venus is Frigg’s Star in Norse. This beauty is going to show us the way to Frigg. There’s four ways we can do that: Odin, Ullr, Baldur, or Nanna.”

            “Why those gods?” Axl asked.

            Olaf answered for him, “Because Odin’s her husband, Ullr is god of games and hunt, Baldur because Frigg did not ask the mistletoe to not harm Baldur yet that’ exactly what happened, and Nanna was his wife whose heart burst at his death. They’re some of the more well known ties within mythology, the Death of Baldur.”

            “It’s pretty,” Stacey said. “Did it belong to Frigg?”

            Anders shook his head. “No. It was created in an attempt to find her a long time ago. They never go the chance to use it though because their Odin vessel died, like, five minutes after it was done.”

            Michele scoffed. “So we don’t even know it works? How useless.” She reached out. “Give it here. I want to see.”

            “I don’t think so,” Anders said, stepping away.

            “Why not, Anders?” Michele asked in a whining voice. “It’s just a jewel that may or may not work. Let me see for just a sec.”

            “No, Michele.”

            “Anders.”

            “Michele.”

            “Come on, you’re being a dick.”

            “ _Michele!”_ Anders said sharply.

            “Anders!” She said equally as sharp but more sarcastic and nastier. She was starting to get angry. Michele glared at him and was seconds away from touching Frigg’s Star when Anders lost it.

“ _Leave it, Sjöfn_!” Anders roared, startling everyone.

            Michele dropped her hand and stepped away, her eyes widening in shock.  “Bragi,” she all but choked out.

            A trickle of blood dripped from Anders’ nose and he swayed, going pale. Mitchell reached out to steady him, probably pressing closer than necessary to keep him on his feet. Anders slowly sank into a crouch, covering his face with his hands.

            “Damnit,” Ty heard him whisper. “Damnit. Damnit. Damnit.”

            “He Bragi-ed me!” Michele said, almost frantically. “He actually Bragi-ed me. I thought it didn’t work on gods! What the fucking hell?”

            Mitchell kneeled down, whispering things in Anders’ ear. Most likely trying to get him to calm down. His shoulders were shaking, but Mike couldn’t tell if he was crying or if it was something else.

            “Anders,” Olaf said, sounding incredibly sober. He knelt down on Anders’ other side. “You need to calm down. You’re making it worse.”

            “Shut up,” Anders hissed. “Don’t you think I already know that? Just tell…tell Michele to stay away from the damn thing. And from me.”

            Michele stopped mid-motion, her hand extended to Anders’ hands and her knees slightly bent. Her physician side was taking over despite Bragi shouting the command at her and the little argument.

            “Do we need to go to the hospital?” Mike asked, worried beyond belief. He’d never see Anders like this before, shaking, trembling, and about to break like fragile glass.

            Mitchell shook his head. “No, it’s alright.” He pushed on Anders’ shoulder. “Come on, sit down. You’re going to hate yourself if you stay in that position for too long.” He slowly eased Anders down until he was sitting on his ass, face still in his hands. “Breathe.”

            Anders sucked in a breath that sounded painful, his shoulders moving in less than a shake and more in a frantic attempt to get enough oxygen in his lungs.

            “What’s happening?” Axl asked, almost hysterical. “Is he okay?”

            “ _Yes,_ ” Mitchell said tersely. “Just shut up for a moment so I can calm him down and then I can talk.”

            The room was dead silent after that, except for Anders’ wheezing breathes and Mitchell’s whisperings to calm him down. This was either a panic attack or an anxiety attack. Probably anxiety (Mike knew about anxiety attacks Ty use to get panic attacks when he was younger), because anxiety attacks usually came from a stressor. They didn’t last as long as panic attacks. Though the way Mitchell was reacting, this type of thing was common. Could Anders get both? The unpredictable _and_ provoked?

            Oh god, his brother. This was his brother. Ty grew out of it, but with Anders he seemed…damaged.

            Finally Anders coughed and heaved, taking in shuddering breath after shuddering breath until it slowed and smoothed out. He ran his fingers through his hair before he dropped them and looked up. His face was pale and his eyes were swollen though Mike couldn’t see any signs of crying other than that.

            “I’m okay,” he said hoarsely. “I’m fine. I promise.” He let Olaf and Mitchell help him up, but waved away anything else. “Michele,” he said calmly.

She snapped straight from her hunched over worried position. “Anders.”

 “I didn’t want you touching it because it really, really doesn’t like the not-right-god holding it.” Anders fixed his rumpled shirt distractedly, brushing out a wrinkle. “Trust me. It gave me a nasty trip when I picked it up. It has no problems with humans/mortals. But once a god or a parahuman picks it up…eh, ouchies.”

            Mitchell growled. “The next time I hear you just shove that off like it was nothing but an ‘ouchie,” he hissed. “I’m going to hit you so hard you’ll wish Nina was taking care of you.”

            Anders stared at him, wide-eyed. “You wouldn’t,” he whispered, horrified.

            “I would.”

            “ _Fine.”_

            “Was that a result of touching Frigg’s Star?” Ty asked. “That anxiety attack? Because that was seriously terrifying.”

            Anders shook his head. “I learned I can influence parahumans and gods if I try hard enough, but it kind of sets me back a bit. No, I…” He shuffled uncomfortably. “I get them a lot,” he mumbled. “For different reasons. I literally have it under control,” he added before anyone could say anything. “Seriously. I do, just ask Mitchell.”

            Since Mitchell did seem to be the more honest one out of the two of them (when concerning Anders anyway), they all looked to him. He nodded, shrugging his shoulders.

            “More-or-less,” he said. “Sometimes more than less in difference situations.”

            Mike bit the inside of his cheek to keep from saying anything. Anders was his own man, had his own relationship, had been on his own (kind of) for years and survived (kind of). If the both of them agreed that everything was under control then he had to trust them on that.

            Even all wanted to do was take Anders by the shoulders and shake him until he spill every little adventure and secret he had and gained during those five years.

            “So who's going to use it?” Ingrid asked. “I vote Baldur.”

            “And I vote me,” Axl said. “She’s Odin’s wife.” He glanced at Gaia for permission. The woman was a little pale, but she nodded just as silently as she’d been this whole time. “I’ll do it. Anders?”

            Anders handed it to him carefully, shaking his hand when he finally let go. “Good riddance,” he muttered.

            Axl stared at it. “Okay…now. How does it work?”


	8. I.VIII

_One Year and Seven Months Ago_

“If you kill yourself I’m going to kill you,” Mitchell said.        

            Anders laughed, actually laughed, as he picked through the antiques. “I don’t think it works that way,” he said.

            Mitchell rolled his eyes, watching Anders carefully eye every single piece of priceless mishmash for the one thing he was looking for. Something called Frigg’s Star and it was suppose to help them find aforementioned Frigg (just in case his family didn’t find her first, though Anders had more faith in his family than Mitchell did).

            “Are you sure you don’t need help?” Mitchell asked. “I know what it looks like. We might get out of here faster.”

            “How about no?” Anders said. “It’s made for gods by gods. I don’t know what would happen to you if you even _looked_ at it wrong, let alone touch. So, I’m good.”

            Mitchell huffed, but stayed were he was off to the side. Anders had Bragi-ed their way into this part of the museum restoration building thought Mitchell still worried someone was going to come down the hall and kick them out (or arrest them, that would be awkward).

            “Well, it’s all getting older,” Anders muttered, he was partially hidden but his voice carried well. “I think that’s a good sign. Some of this stuff dates around the same time Frigg’s Star is said to be made.”

            “And if it’s not here?” Mitchell asked. “Where else would we go?”

            “I…have no idea.”

            Anders had a tendency not to think things through (that wasn’t always the case if his stories from his childhood were the truth, but things have changed) and Mitchell didn’t always think things through as well. What a pair they made, it was amazing they made it this far together and didn’t end up in a cell somewhere unpleasant.

            At least it was a slightly endearing trait.

            “Ah-ha!” Anders crowed, pumping his fists in the air in celebration. “Found it.”

            “Excellent, now grab it and let’s get out of here. I’m starving.” Mitchell straighten from where he was leaning against the wall, tugging on his gloves. 

            “You’re always starving,” Anders said distractedly.

Well, that was true. They managed to come up with a nice balance for the whole blood thing (even though some times it didn’t work and Anders worried) and eating certain foods at the right moment tended to help—imagine that—though that wasn’t the whole of it.

“Alright, the chain’s just tangled around something,” Anders muttered. Something clanged loudly, like metal on thick glass. “Hold on.”

There was a beat of silence then a choked scream. Mitchell bolted from where he was, rushing to Anders’ side. The younger man was on the ground, spasms wracking his body and his limbs jerking like in the throes of a seizure with the Star gripped tightly in his hand.

            Mitchell grabbed his shoulders, mind racing. What should he do? What the fucking was even happening? Panic set in, he was at a complete loss _and Anders wouldn’t stop._

            Finally he did though, a small crying leaving his lips as he went limp. His eyes didn’t open and his breathing was unbearably fast. His hand was still gripped tight around Frigg’s Star, fingers curling around enough his nails dug into his skin.

            He tried to pry the Star from Anders’ hand, but the man wouldn’t let go of it even in his unconscious state. He slapped his cheek gently. “Anders,” he said loudly. “Anders, wake up.”

            He groaned and shifted, eyes squeezing tighter. Finally they fluttered open to reveal the blue Mitchell very much liked to stare at. “Mmmitchell,” he moaned, a drop of blood coming from the corner of his lip. He must have bitten his tongue or something. “What happened?”

            “I have no idea,” Mitchell answered. “I was hoping you’d tell me.”

            Anders’ eyes slide close again making Mitchell slap his cheek a bit harder than before. He moaned Mitchell’s name again in that not-sexy voice. God, he never wanted to hear this name said like that again.

            “Come on,” he said. “We’ve got to go.”

            Anders struggled to sit up, his limbs shaking and trembling. He would’ve just flopped back down if it weren’t for Mitchell’s arm around his shoulders. There was no way he was going to be able to walk out of here, no way at all.

            Mitchell sighed. Did everything have to go to shits when the two of them were involved?

            He used all of his strength (and with a little bit of help from Anders’ but not much) and heaved the god onto his back. Anders wrapped one arm loosely around his throat, the other dangling limply as it still held onto the Star. Mitchell gripped his legs tightly, just above the underside of his knees.

            “You’re still too light,” Mitchell commented, bringing up an old argument just to keep Anders from passing out.

            Anders hummed, burrowing his face into Mitchell’s wild curls. “Am not,” he mumbled. “ _You’re_ too light.”

            He chuckled. “That makes no sense.”

            They managed to get out of the building with only having to Bragi two people and to their hotel without the receptionist asking awkward questions. Probably because this wasn’t the best hotel, she’d probably seen it all.

            Mitchell more-or-less dumped Anders on their bed, back aching. Despite the fact he was light, carrying him for an hour wasn’t the best idea.

            Anders was out like a light again, his grip still too tight around the Star. If the medallion had been any thinner Mitchell would’ve worried about him cutting his palm open.

            He ran a hand through his hair, pacing. What was he suppose to do? This was a god thing and Mitchell was furthest from a god you could get. Seeing Anders like this…it _hurt_. And yet he couldn’t do anything. He had no idea what was going on inside his head or what made him scream like that in the first place.

            The Star was the most obvious choice, of course, but why would it do that.

            Mitchell could do nothing but wait. He ordered take-away, he took a shower, and then he sat on the bed next to Anders, leaning against the backboard, and started reading poems from the only book the two of them carried around with them that didn’t have to do with Ragnarök or Gods.

            The same poem book that had Mitchell’s poem about Light and the first book that Ander decided to read to him when he was in the hospital in Bristol when they first met. Call him sentimental, but it meant a lot to him.

            Night past and morning came, Anders was still out of it and Mitchell was temped to call Nina to give some long distance help. Then Anders stirred, groaning in pain.

            “Anders?” Mitchell called, putting the book down and leaning over the man (probably not a good idea, Anders liked to flail sometimes). “Can you hear me?”

            “Mitchell?” Anders slurred. His eyes fluttered open, the blue slightly glazed over but clearing every second. “What happened?”

            “I was hoping you’d tell me that,” he said, smiling in relief.

            Anders groaned and rolled over, burying his face in the pillow and curling closer to Mitchell. He didn’t seem to notice he still held onto the Star.

            “I don’t think this thing likes gods,” he muttered, words muffled.

            “Then how do we use it?”

            Anders shrugged. “A little more r            research is in order, I guess.” He closed his eyes. “And now I’m tired.”

            “You’ve been sleeping all night,” Mitchell protested.

            Anders raised a finger to his lips, shushing him. “Unconscious, not sleeping. _Huge_ difference.” And he promptly fell asleep, curled against Mitchell with the Star still in his hands.

            Mitchell huffed, but didn’t move. He’d wait until Anders slept before he entirely freaked out.

            Unfortunately, Anders didn’t get much sleep due to the nightmares that decided to plague his mind.

* * *

 

            Ty read his letter almost a soon as he read it, she knew that much. Axl almost threw his away but she managed to convince him otherwise. She didn’t know about Mike and she knew Olaf didn’t get one (which made her suspicious).

            Gaia wasn’t in a hurry to read hers, she wasn’t even sure if any of the remaining brothers knew Anders even wrote her one, but she knew she’d eventually have to whether she liked it or not.

            It was with that thought that found her sitting in the back of a little café with a drink in hand and the letter sitting on the table in front of her.

            She and Axl are doing well so why should she read a letter that, for all she knew, could have been written by Bragi? It could ruin the good thing they have going here after she forgave Axl for being so rash.

            Gaia sighed and put down her coffee. She slowly opened the envelope and unfolded the letter. Much to her surprise it was rather short and not addressed to her at all, but to Iðunn.

_Iðunn—_

_Pretend Axl is me or else our time in Asgard when we go back is going to be filled with more arguments than normal. And you know how the family hates it when we argue._

_—Bragi_

_PS: Gaia, Anders is sorry and hopes you and Axl have a wonderful life together._

            Simple, to the point. Totally not what she expected from Anders, not just that Bragi apparently wrote it, but Anders didn’t try and get anything vulgar into the words without Bragi noticing.

            She almost felt like this was written as a side note, which was she a little okay with. But the fact that Bragi apparently wanted her relationship with Axl to work out—his wife with Odin—was…heartwarming.

            Apparently she was looking at the gods, in general, in the wrong light.


	9. I.IX

            _Present Day_

Some how they managed to get Frigg’s Star to work. Axl had closed his eyes and suddenly he was moving like Mike did when Ullr caught the trail. They went front Mike’s bar to downtown to a cluster of warehouses (Mike wasn’t even aware there were warehouses like this—all empty and just perfect for God hunters to keep a goddess while keeping an eye on the rest of them).

            They tried all three of them, but they were all empty. Axl froze in the last one, shoulders drooping. “Why isn’t she here?” He asked. “You said she’d be here!”

            Anders raised his hands in defense. “I said the Star would lead us to her. I can only assume the God Hunters got wind of the Star and did their best to hide Frigg from it. But it’s something for gods, by gods, they won’t be able to keep her hidden for long.”

            “They were here recently,” Mike said. He had wandered over to a side room and found signs of a group of four people and one more who couldn’t move as evidenced by the imprint in the cushion left behind. “And they were here for a long time too.

            Ty’s mobile rang, startling them all. He smiled apologetically and turned to answer it. The rest of them stayed where they were.

            “That means we’re close, right?” Axl asked.

            Olaf nodded. “I can feel it,” he said. “In this room. I can feel Frigg’s energy. They can hide her long distance, but once you get right on top of where she was only minutes ago you can’t miss her.”

            Mike agreed. Ullr could sense the energies of Gods just swirling around the room, it was amazing Axl didn’t notice it as Odin—though he might have been too distraught over Frigg not being here. Gaia patted his arm comfortingly.

            “What’s this?” Stacey asked. She pointed at a bow and quiver of arrows.

            “Well, Stacey, it’s looks like—“ Michele started, sarcasm thick in her voice, but Stacey cut her off.

            “I _know_ what it is, Michele,” Stacey said. “But why is it here. The only one I know with a fondness for archery is you.”

            Anders didn’t even seem to be paying attention, too busy shooting glances at Ty. Mike followed his gaze to see Ty on his phone, shoulders hunched.

            “Ty?” Michele asked. “What’s wrong?”

            He whirled, eyes wide and staring at something above their heads. His lips were moving, but he didn’t make a sound. Lightning fast he snatched the bow and quiver, drawing an arrow and putting it into position but not pointed at anyone in particular.

            Anders swore loudly and colourfully. “Olaf! Look out!”

            Olaf didn’t moved, more confused and shocked than anything else. Mike was feeling the same. Why would Olaf move?

            Then Ty chose a target, pointing the arrow directly at his grandfather. He drew the string back and letting it fly.

            “ _Duck_!”

            Mitchell slammed into Olaf, knocking them both to the ground. An arrow sprouted from the Irishman’s shoulder. He let out a cry of a pain, hand wrapping around the shaft as he rolled off Olaf and landed on his back.

            “ _Mitchell_!” Anders shrieked. He scrambled over to them, completely ignoring the sightless, hysterical Ty being held by Axl. “Damnit, you asshole.”

            For a moment Mike thought his brother was talking to Olaf or Ty, until he realized Anders was glaring at Mitchell even as he touched the other man’s cheek  with such gentleness Mike was a little embarrassed to be watching.

            “You fucking idiot,” Anders muttered. “I’m going to kill you.”

            Mitchell chuckled, wincing in pain. “That would be kind of counterproductive, wouldn’t it?” Blood pooled from the wound, even from around the arrow that should’ve been blocking it.

            Anders laughed harshly. He tossed his phone to Mike. “Switch with Axl,” he ordered. “Axl, call Loki and tell him to lift the curse off Ty.”

            “You don’t want me to call an ambulance?” Mike asked, confused. Mitchell looked terrible, he was losing blood and consciousness, and Ander was just going to leave him on the bare warehouse ground?

            Anders shook his head. “They can’t do anything for him,” he muttered. “Oh, this is going to be embarrassing.”

            Mitchell grinned at him. “Maybe, probably.”

            He rolled his eyes, but his lips twitched. Anders swung his leg over Mitchell so he was straddling him, one hand wrapped around the arrow shaft and the other bracing Mitchell’s shoulder.

            “I’m going to count to three,” he said. “One.”

            “Uh, Anders,” Olaf said. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Maybe we should call an ambulance.” He took the phone from Mike’s loose grip, but before he could press a button Anders counted to ‘two’ and ripped the arrow from Mitchell’s shoulder.

            Mitchell let out a muffled scream, biting his cheek so he wouldn’t be too loud. Anders pressed his hand against the wound, blood oozing between his fingers. He used his free hand to push back Mitchell’s hair, digging his nails in his scalp.

            He took a second to glare at them. “Isn’t anyone going to call Loki?” His eyes flickered to Ty. “We all know Ty isn’t blind and would never do this. That arrow was dipped in mistletoe; the arrow shaft was made out of the wood. Someone was trying to reenact The Death of Baldr. Axl, put your best Odin voice on and tell that damn trickster to lift the curse.”

            Olaf and Mike took Ty, who was now limp in defeat. His younger brother was trembling, scared as fuck, and at a complete loss. Axl hesitated with the phone.

            “What about Mitchell?” He asked.

            Anders smiled faintly. “He’ll be okay in a minute.” Then he turned all of his attention to the tall Irishman. “You’ll be okay,” he said again to him.

            Mitchell lifted a shaky hand and grabbed the back of Anders’ neck, pulling him into a heated kiss. Anders didn’t even seem surprised, or embarrassed to be kissing him like that in front of his family. They stayed like that for a few long seconds before Mitchell trailed kisses down his jaw to his neck. It really was a moment meant for the bedroom, Mike covered his face in exasperation.

            But then colour of Mitchell’s half-lidded eyes bled to black and his teeth elongated and sharped. Axl cried out in fear, but Mitchell still sunk his fangs into Anders’ neck. Anders dropped his head to Mitchell’s shoulder, body taking on a golden sheen.

            Everyone was frozen in fear. Mike’s insides felt like ice and slush, like Ty had actively used his powers on him but tried his best not to kill him. Mitchell was a…vampire?

            A bloody fucking vampire. Anders was dating? Fucking? Something? A blood drinking, killing machine. Anders was letting a vampire feed on him and it looked like this wasn’t the first time, with how…intimate they were being about it.

            God, he felt so uncomfortable right now. It’s one thing hearing about Anders’ exploits, another watching one.

            Mitchell finished with a gasp that was all sorts of wrong and Anders gave a breathy laugh.

            “What did I say about calling Loki?” He asked without moving his head.

Axl jumped and put the phone to his ear, his eyes never leaving Mitchell and Anders. His eyebrows went high on his forehead before he brought the phone down and scowled at it. He tried three more times and apparently never got an answer.

“That bastard.”

“Looks like you’ll have to do it,” Olaf said. “Breaking someone else’s curse is difficult, but you’re Odin so it shouldn’t be as hard.”

“I don’t understand,” Axl said, turning to Ty.

Mike ran a free hand through his hair, glancing at Mitchell and Anders still tangled together on the ground then turning his full attention on Ty. “It’s like what Anders said. This was an attempt at the Death of Baldr. Loki is the one who convinces Höðr to shoot Baldr with mistletoe and Baldr dies. Loki must have but a delayed curse on Ty that got activated with that phone call.”

Ty nodded frantically, mouthing words that no one could hear. Tears were streaming down his face and he looked like he was in extreme pain. Mike sighed and rest his free hand on top of his head, heart breaking for his brothers.

Anders. Ty. Axl. They all had heavy burdens on them, some Mike knew about and some he had no idea. He could only watch as they cracked under the pressure of everything—or already broken in the case of two. Anders and Ty, where did he go so wrong?

Ty use to be so bright and happy even with the attacks that happened. Then he grew out of them and he was still happy…then he wasn’t.

Ty in his arms. Anders on the ground with a vampire. Axl trying to figure out how to lift a curse off one of his big brothers.

            What a family.

            “I don’t think I can do this,” Axl said, his hand was trembling as he reached out for Ty. “I don’t know how.”

            “Yes you do,” Olaf said. “You’re Odin. It’s something ingrained in you. You’ve been doing stuff like this for thousands of years, even if they didn’t make the myths. Just try. For your brother’s sake.”

            Those last four words were what urged Axl on. A determined expression crossed his face and he placed his hand on Ty’s forehead.

            “Head’s up,” Anders muttered.

            Mike glanced at him but didn’t linger because then Ty let out a shrill, ear-piercing scream and there was an almighty _snap!_ Ty crumbled and Axl stumbled back. Mike sagged under the weight of his brother, lowering him gently to the ground.

            “Ty?” Mike asked, touching his forehead. There was no temperature difference between then still. Axl fell to his knees next to him. “Ty, can you hear me?”

            Ty groaned, shifting. His eyes fluttered open and he glared at the ceiling before his gaze wandered over to meet Mike’s head on. “I’m going to kill him,” he rasped.

            Anders let out a semi-hysterical laugh drawing attention to him and Mitchell (who were _still_ on the ground, Jesus Christ). “Get in line,” he said. “When did the bastard curse you?”

            “How is he suppose to to know?” Michele demanded.

            “Last week,” Ty answered. “I think. Dawn had to talk to Colin about something to due with his financials as a mayor. She begged her boss to choose someone else since she knows and seriously doesn’t like him. I went with her to lunch about it, protection of sorts. I didn’t expect this.”

            “No one was expecting it,” Olaf said. “So little myths are actually happening. Sure we’ve got gods and the marriages and Ragnarök, but that’s about it. I never expecting an attempt at the Death of…Me.”

            “Are you okay?” Axl asked, bringing a hand to Ty’s shoulder. He helped his brother to a sitting position.

            Ty smiled at him. “I’m fine,” he assured. “Thanks to you.” He blinked, eyebrows furrowing. “Why is Anders laying on top of Mitchell on the ground? And why is there blood on his neck?”

            Mike rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Now that’s an excellent question. Anders?”

            Anders sat up slowly, wincing a bit. “Mitchell’s a vampire,” he said matter-of-factly. “And we learned that if Bragi uses some of his God mojo then he can feed on me without me dying or turning. Awesome, right?” There was something in his voice that Mike didn’t like, but he could tell Anders wasn’t going to talk about it.

            His baby brother stood up fully, heaving Mitchell up with him. The vampire ( _vampire!)_ looked embarrassed now that he was healed with a sheepish grin on his face. He didn’t look at anyone but Anders, seeming to make sure then man wasn’t going to collapse as he walked towards Ty.

            Anders reached up and grabbed his brother’s face, bringing it low so they were eye to eye without Anders straining much. Ty’s eyes widened as Anders looked intently in them, searching for something only he knew about.

            “Anders,” Mitchell said quietly, firmly.

            He finally released Ty’s head. “Curse is gone,” he announced. “Olaf can confirm it, right?”

            Olaf nodded. “Well done, Axl.”

            Axl beamed with pride before his expression turned sour. “What are we suppose to to about Frigg? Does this mean Loki’s working with them?”

            “That’s a possibility,” Gaia commented. “I don’t like it.”

            “No one likes it,” Michele said.


	10. I.X

            They drove to Ty’s place—Mike at the wheel in the front car; Axl and Olaf in the front with him; Anders, Ty, and Mitchell in the back. Ty was out like a light, forehead leaning against the window and softly snoring. Anders was equally just as asleep, head resting on Mitchell’s shoulder. His neck was clean now and the place where Mitchell sunk his fangs in looked like a days old wound. Mitchell himself was staring out the window broodingly.

            As if sensing Mike’s stare Mitchell met his gaze in the rearview mirror. He raised an eyebrow before resting his cheek on top Anders’ head and turning to stare out the window again. Mike scowled. He had been iffy about Anders and Mitchell’s relationship considering how volatile Anders could be, he knew nothing of Mitchell, and, you know, the whole god/Bragi-and-Iðunn thing going on. Now, though, he disliked this even less.

            “I’ve never seen him happier,” Olaf commented quietly.

            Mike tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “He’s with a _vampire_ ,” he hissed. “What about all those horror stories you told me about, grandpa? What if Anders is just falling into a trap?”

            “Then it’s a very long con,” Axl decided to add. “Four years? Would any vampire be willing to put up with him for that long?” There was teasing in his voice, so he obviously didn’t mean it. It was a nice change from before and Mike wondered what happened.

            “This is serious,” Olaf said. “You realize he basically severed a part of his soul for this man? Bragi is as much as Anders as Anders is Bragi, cutting the bond between him and Iðunn was probably unbearably painful but he did it for this vampire. And for Axl and Gaia.” He glanced at the youngest Johnson. “Anders, as much of a dick he used to be, would never take something like that lightly. He partied and slept around, but not all god things were a joke. Remember, this is the same man who went to Norway for the Tree of Life, alone, and came back to, well, us. He was a dick, but we could’ve been better.”

            “Not the point, grandpa,” Mike snapped. “The point is that Anders is shacking up with a vampire and letting him fed from him. Manipulation goes both ways.”

            “You know I can hear you, right?” Mitchell piped up. He was grinning smugly when Mike turned to glare at him. “You liked me a lot more when I wasn’t a vampire in your head. And I hope you realize that this was all Anders, I just follow him around like a puppy.”

            “No, that’s George,” Anders murmured, startling them all. Mike hadn’t known he was awake.

            Mitchell smiled down at him. “You know he hates being compared to a puppy.”

            “And yet it’s still accurate.” His words were slurred, his eyes were shut, and Mike was pretty sure Anders was out again because he didn’t say another word.

            The vampire had a fond look on his face. “He loves ragging on George,” he explained even though no one asked. “I use to share a flat with him and someone else. George is a werewolf.”

            Mike threw his hands up in exasperation before quickly grabbing the wheel again as the car drifted to the side.

            “Okay, here’s my question,” Axl said. “Is Anders going to be okay?”

            Mitchell nodded firmly. “Yeah, absolutely. Just tired, but being a god helps replenish the blood faster.” He looked at Mike. “We don’t always do this. Without him just now I would’ve died and I don’t think Anders’ reaction would be very pretty.” There was something dark in his eyes, deeper than the whole vampire/serial killer thing.

            —something that made Mike feel a little sick.

            Dawn was waiting for them when they arrived, fretting over the paler-than-usual-how-is-that-possible Ty and concerned herself over the bloodied Anders and Mitchell. Stacey and Michele did they best to explain it to her without her freaking out too much. Gaia walked close to Axl and Olaf, talking quietly.

            They all stumbled into Dawn and Ty’s place, the atmosphere subdued.  Beers were passed around, tea was made, and Ty’s cupcakes were raided mercilessly. Then they all sprawled out in the living room and part of the kitchen.

            Ty and Dawn took one love seat while Anders and Mitchell took the other one; Axl, Gaia, Michele, and Mike shared a couch; and the others took over the kitchen.

            “That was a waste,” Michele commented. “Got anymore bright ideas, Anders?”

            Anders glared at her. “Yeah, how ‘bout you shut the fuck up? The Star worked, the God Hunters were just a step ahead of us. They have a tendency to do that,” he muttered. Speaking louder he said, “We’ve just got to move faster.”

            “I estimate we have two months,” Ingrid said, her tone suitably mysterious and airy. “Two months before Ragnarök.”

            Mitchell frowned. “That means another earthquake will hit in a couple of weeks and worse than before. The sky will darken. Goddamnit, Anders.”

            Anders just grinned and patted his shoulder. “I know, I know.” His expression turned serious. “Frigg has been with the Hunters for an ungodly amount of time. Six months to a year, probably. May be even before she was actually a goddess. So she’s not going to be in the best shape even if she doesn’t or hasn’t fought back. Unfortunately we’ll have to use that to our advantage.”

            “Meaning what?” Axl asked.

            Olaf leaned back in his seat, almost toppling off if Stacey hadn’t caught him. “It means we have no choice but to constantly use the Star—Tire them out so they can’t move as fast. Frigg being in the condition Anders thinks she’s in will slow them down even faster.

            “We can give you a time limit, if that will help,” Anders offered. “Make you actually do it.”

            Axl raised an eyebrow. “I already have a time limit.”

            Anders shook his head. “Yeah, two months. But I’d feel better if you didn’t find her with seconds to spare,” he said. “We could make it good. We know you two have to get married. So find her in two week and we’ll give the woman a proper wedding—with the long, dramatic planning and everything.” He raised his hands defensively when more than one person glared at him. “I’m not saying _stay_ married. Just pamper her with that beautiful wedding with the dress and the food. She’s Frigg, goddess of marriage and shit. She’ll absolutely love it.” No one could deny that.

            “So, two weeks?”

            “Two weeks,” Anders confirmed, not getting any disagreement.

            Now that that little issue was out of the way, Mike decided to bring up the topic he’d be dying to talk about with everyone wake and in the same room. (Though Ty looked _this_ close to falling asleep again.)

            “Do you want to explain to the class why you’re shacking up with a vampire, Anders?” Mike asked. He faintly heard Dawn go “what?” in confusion, but he ignored it to focus on Mitchell and Anders.

            Mitchell sighed. “I thought we talking about this in the car?” No one answered so he said: “How about we focus on other things that are actually your business instead of Anders’ life which is none of yours.”

            “It is _my_ business! He’s my brother.”

            “Not anymore!” Mitchell snapped, suddenly seething. He barely calmed when Anders whispered something in his ear and pressed a hand to his shoulder.

            Anders turned to his family. “It really is none of your business,” he said. “I have seen you or spoken to you in five years. I know that’s mostly my fault, but that means what I got up to in those years? You don’t have to—or get to—know about it.”

            “Anders—.”

            “No, Ty,” he said sharply. “You really don’t and I’m not about to tell you either.” He stood up, tugging on the arm of the still-angry Mitchell. “We’re going to head home. See you bright and early tomorrow for the start of the Frigg Search.” They started to leave when Axl jumped from his seat.

            “Wait,” he said. “How about we all just stay the night here?” He glanced at Ty and Mike pleadingly. Ty nodded, but Mike just stared moodily.

            He was absolutely pissed at Anders and Mitchell right now so he didn’t give a flying fuck what they did.

            “We’ll get take-away and no talk about things,” Axl said. “Please? I want to be around all my brothers again. Maybe apologize too?” He added tentatively.

            Anders flinched ever-so-slightly, but nodded without out looking at Mitchell. “Yeah, sure. Whatever.” He went back to the love seat, tucking his feet between the cushions. Mitchell followed throwing an arm over the back with his fingers clutching Anders’ sleeve.

            They ordered food and like true gods while watching one movie then another when that one ended. Mike took his last bite, sinking deeper into the couch.

Michele was already asleep, resting on his chest. Ty and Dawn were tangled together like puppies, both snoring quietly. Olaf, Ingrid, and Stacey some how migrated to the living room floor, all curled up under the same blanket. Axl was stubbornly trying to keep his eyes open while Gaia was already out like a light. Mike glanced over to see both Anders and Mitchell asleep as well; Anders head resting on Mitchell’s lap while the vampire’s head was on the back of the seat, mouth open, and snoring every now and then.

            All of it was pretty adorable. Mike felt like a little kid for the first time since…since they literally dragged Ty off to play mini gold with them for a Thing.

            He swallowed, trying to wet his suddenly dry mouth, and grimaced at the awful taste that bloomed at the back of his mouth. He frowned; he didn’t remember eating something that tasted so foul. Axl found that the moment to finally fall asleep, his head dropping and mostly empty beer bottle falling out of his hand to crash to the carpeted floor. Mike was hit with the feeling that something was very, very wrong.

            And then nothing but darkness.

           


	11. II.I

_Let’s Take a Step Back…_

            Global Warming started a long time ago and that was just the start. Temperatures rose, or plummeted, and the seas began to swell to encroach on the earth and people. Natural disasters happened more often then not, but the biggest on to happen was a seismic ripple from the equator out. It devastated the cities and communities located there and those along fault lines—even those who never receive earthquakes were hit.

            People scrambled for answers, blaming God, blaming alternative lifestyles (to say politely), or blaming the government. What people failed to realize was that after years of slowly wakening, the Jörmungandr finally decided to do a little more than that and actually _shift_.

            It wasn’t just wakening; it was dozing now, on the verge of snapping its eyes open like a dragon after a long sleep. Thor, the great Thunderer, was missing—his mortal vessel Derrick missing in action. Odin, the All-Father, was in the vessel of a boy who was only in his twenties was out of his element. Olaf and Ingrid, Baldr and Snotra respectively, no longer had all their Oracle answers. Anders, God of Poetry through Bragi, had a few, but he was gone.

            All of humanity’s fate rested on the shoulders of those who were just as human as the rest of them, they just had a god soul along for the ride—too cut off from Asgard for far too long to be of much help. Fantastic, right?

* * *

 

_Now a step forward…_

Mike can barely breathe down here, the smell of damp death and dusty mold made the air heavy. His wrists and shoulders ache, tied back with rough rope that dug into his skin. For the longest time he couldn’t see, but when his eyes adjusted to the darkness he wished he were still blind.

            A gorgeous—even under the grime and blood and bruises—woman was in the corner, there was no equal to her that he could think of, even now. She’s terrified and hurt,, but she looks concerned as well. Mike follows her gaze to see Anders just a few feet away from him, his hands tied just like Mike’s, but his back is curled over his legs until his forehead touches the ground in the most uncomfortable looking position ever. His shoulders are shaking, but he makes no sound.

            “Anders,” Mike whispers. Anders doesn’t respond.

            “He’s been like this since they brought you,” the woman says quietly. She meets Mike’s eyes dead on. “My name’s Hanna. I guess I’m Frigg.” She puts on a weak smile.

            Mike couldn’t help but return it, just as weak but still a smile. “Hey, Hanna. I’m Mike, or Ullr. That’s one of my brothers Anders, who’s Bragi.”

            She nods acknowledges, her concern expression never leaving her face. “They’ve done something to him before,” she comments.

            He couldn’t help it; he has to agree with her. There have been many sides of Anders revealed in the few short days he’d been back in Auckland. Mike’s seen him having panic attacks and surprisingly tender moments with his vampire, but never has Anders been trembling silently, not speaking, not moving, like this.

            He jiggles his hands to see if he’s attached to anything. They’re not, so Mike slides over to his brother—pained that he can’t reach out to comfort him. It may not be his strong point, but sometimes you had to try anyway.

            “Anders,” he says again. “It’s going to be okay, buddy.”

            Anders lets out a small, choked sob that has even Hanna making a worried sound at the back of her throat. Mike is at a lost; he has no idea what to do. God Hunters kidnapped two of the gods who could find Frigg, leaving Axl and the others flailing. Mitchell was probably going ballistic.

            “Come on,” Mike urges. “Speak to me.”

            The door swings open just then, making both Frigg and Anders flinch violently. “Now, now,” the large man walking in says. “I’m afraid Anders won’t answer you. He’s beyond terrified right now.” He grins like that’s the best thing to even happen. “It was sort of hoping that after the second time he would give up on this Frigg thing.”

            The scars Mike remembers seeing and Ty mentioning flashes in his mind’s eye and he understands a little bit more now. Angers bubbles in his chest and he snarls at the man. They touched his brother. Anders didn’t know that information just because he did research; he knew it because they tortured him!

            “What did you do to my brother?” He demands.

            “Oh, so you take that title now?” The man asks like he’s disapproving of Mike. “From what I understand, our dear Anders here doesn’t have family anymore. He’s been banished, hasn’t he?”

            Anders shudders next to him and Mike doesn’t know what to say to that. The man just smirks, throws a water bottle towards Hanna, and walks out. The bottle smacks Hanna in the face but she doesn’t react to it.

            “I’m okay,” she assured, opening the bottle. Her hands were tied loosely in front of her, enough for her to open the bottle but not enough to get a decent swing in. At this point she probably didn’t want to bother.

            Mike sighs. “Oh Anders. Anders. What did they do to you?” He asks, desperately trying to understand a bit more, get the whole picture. “Anders, please,” he says when he receives no answer.

            “Mike,” Hanna says. “You probably don’t want to know.” It sounds like she knows personally and that scares him.

            Mike’s stomach churns at the thought. He has nothing else to say or do, but he leans gently against Anders, trying to give just _some_ comfort to his brother. It was only then that Mike realizes Anders deliberately avoid familial terms when talking to or around them. Obviously he mentioned them as brothers if Mitchell’s information meant anything, but never in the presence of other gods. That’s how he worked around his banishment this time.

            They denied him so he had to deny them.

            The thought makes Mike choke on air for a second. It honestly never occurred to him what banishment was. He isn’t actually a god; he just houses the soul of one. When Ullr goes back to Asgard Mikkel Johnson will be left behind in New Zealand, Earth.

            And Axl probably had no idea what he had been saying. He said the words and Odin’s power made it true.

            Well, there is a huge chance that they’ve screwed up royally with no redemption. Bloody fucking awesome.

            “We need to get out of here,” Mike says. He winces then looks down at Anders. “He said…” He has to swallow around the lump in his throat. “He said you’ve been with them twice. You escaped both times? How?”

            Anders shivers again; his body will not stop trembling. Mike’s scared he’s going to pull something in his fear.

            “Anders, I know you’re terrified,” Mike says. “You’re not the only one. Frigg’s in here too. Her name’s Hanna. And I’m in here, your brother.” Anders gasps. “I know, I know. That’s not what you want to hear. I know you can’t hear that, it hurts. But I need you to know who’s in here with you and you need to realize that it’s not just you this time. I need you to think really hard, Anders, because you’re our best bet at getting out of here alive. Mitchell’s our second bet.”

            “Anders?” Hanna asks quietly, her eyes never leaving Anders’ curled form. “Please. If twice is true, than Mike is right. I’ve been with them for months and I haven’t figured out how to circumvent them yet.”

            Anders’ head shakes ever-so-slightly and though it’s not the answer Mike wants, he just glad Anders responded in some way.

            “Come on,” Mike says. “You honestly want to leave Axl to be the one to find us?” He’s trying to keep his voice light and teasing. “He gets lost in his own house. He’d leave he his head at home if it weren’t for Gaia. It’s been five years, but your little brother hasn’t change one bit.”

            Anders shudders again, curling into himself a bit more. He’s half the size than normal and all Mike sees is a little five-year-old boy terrified of thunder, wanting to share a bed with him to chase away the nightmares. But Mike doesn’t have a bed this time; he can’t chase away the nightmares with a simple hug anymore.

            “Please, Mike,” he hears Anders whisper so quietly he thinks it’s the wind at first. “Please. Please. Please.”

            “Please, what?” Mike asks. He exchanges concern and scared looks with Hanna as Anders keeps begging _please, please, please._ “Anders, you’re scaring me. Please what.”

            Mike just wants to reach out and grab him, pull him into a hug and protect him from the world, but he’s at a loss. Again. This is becoming a patter he definitely doesn’t like.

            It’s Hanna that moves, quietly and slowly. She inches her way to Anders’ other side, holding the water bottle with one hand and reaching out the best she can with the other. Anders flinches a bit but her hesitance makes him relax a bit. “I’m not going to begin to try and imagine what they’ve done to you,” she says gently. “Obviously they’ve taken me to prove a point, not torture me. With you it was different, I can see that. But I definitely know that you shouldn’t let them get to you. Anders, you’ve escaped them _twice_ now. That’s got to be the most amazing thing ever. Please, give it a third time’s charm? Maybe this time we can keep it from being a fourth.”

            He doesn’t speak for ten minutes; in that time Hanna forces Mike to take a drink of the water then she takes another before putting the cap on to save some for Anders and have some left over. Those ten minutes pass before Anders’ posture loosens and he doesn’t look so small anymore. He looks incredibly young, instead, when he glances up, looking through his lashes at Mike and Hanna.

            Anders licks his lips almost nervously then says in a voice that’s no more than a croak: “They might’ve gotten smarter from last time. The first time it was just me. The second Mitchell helped.”

            “Well, now there’s three of us,” Mike says, his voice strong with more confidence than he thinks he actually has. “And we’re bloody fantastic.”

            His words get the reactions he wants: Hanna giggles a bit and Anders cracks a tiny, small, ghost of a smile, but it’s there.

            They’ll get through this.

 


	12. II.II

 

          “Mitchell, he’s going to be okay. This is Anders we’re talking about, “Annie says.

            Mitchell pinches the bridge of his nose before running his free hand through his hair. “You’re right, this is Anders we’re talking about. This is exactly why he’s _not_ going to be okay!” He exclaims, throwing his hand in the air and almost smacking Dawn in the face. He mouths an apology to her that she waves away. “I just need you to look for it for me, alright?”

            Dawn puts an ice pack to her head, leaning against the kitchen counter. Everyone is spread out, but Dawn and Mitchell are the only ones standing. She also has a major headache from what ever drug was put into the take-away, apparently the God Hunters through it was a brilliant idea to give a mortal the same thing they were giving gods.

            “I still don’t understand why only Mike and Anders were taken,” Axl says quietly, his hands tighten around the glass of water in his hands. “I mean, me and Olaf can use the Star too. Taking them won’t keep us from Frigg…or I guess them either now.”

            “Yeah, but does Olaf know how to actually use it?” Gaia asks. “Do _you_ even know how to properly use it? Anders was the only one who could use it since he wouldn’t let Mitchell touch it and Mike is Ullr, if only Anders was taken then it wouldn’t’ve taken long for Mike to figure it out since it’s basically equal to a hunt.”

“This isn’t the first time Anders dealt with God Hunters,” Mitchell says quietly. “They could’ve left him, really. He can’t use the Star, but he knows how to. All they would have to do would be take all those who could use it—no big deal—and we’d be left with nothing.” He shakes his head. “This is more personal. Anders got caught in them five years ago—that’s how we met—and again about few months later. Six, actually. The first time he got away himself, the second I was around to help.”

            Gaia covers her mouth in horror, eyes widening. “Anders _what_?” She says reflexively then shakes her head. “Oh god, no wonder.”

            The three Johnsons left over look like they’re about to be sick, but they can’t say anything because Annie’s voice came over the speaker-line.

            “I found it,” Annie says. “What part do you need?”

            “The part about the God Hunters’ and where they kept Anders those two times,” he replies. “I _know_ he wrote it down somewhere. Why?—he still won’t tell me.”

            “Er, alright. Take me off speaker, will you?”

            Then they lose one side of the conversation, a minute later they lose both when Mitchell goes outside to talk to his ghost friend. Michele opens her mouth to protest, probably going to mention how stupid of idea that is to go outside alone, but Olaf shushes her easily.

            Dawn doesn’t really know hat to do with herself. She can’t really get over the knowledge that Anders was in the hands of these God Hunters twice before and is now in them again the third time. She can’t believe how he’ll be when they get him back.

            Mitchell comes back to a room full of silence. No one is talking to each other; no one wants to ask the questions that need to be asked.

            Ingrid is the one to finally brave it, her voice abnormally loud. “What are they going to do to them?”

            The vampire ( _vampire!_ ) sighs, taking the free seat that he and Anders had shared just last night. “Probably nothing, hopefully. Though, considering how pissed they are at Anders my hopes are probably too high,” he admits. “If Frigg’s been with them as long as we think she has and she’s still alive then they should be okay. I think they’re more focused on proving themselves right about their God than they are about killing abominations.”

            “And if they’re not?”

            Mitchell winces. “Then you should probably leave Anders to me,” he says. “It’s not going to be pretty.”

            Axl is silent, his hands clasped between his knees and his head bowed. “He needs to be okay,” he says quietly. “I need to be able to touch him to take the banishment off.”

            All the air leaves the room, leaving a void behind. Some are stunned and others just think _finally_ , but Mitchell looks angry.

            “You really think that’s going to help?” Mitchell snarls. “Well, it’s not. Trust me. He isn’t going to magically love you again when you finally allow him to call you brother again. You screwed him over big time five years ago. Maybe— _just_ maybe if you’d fixed it the next hour or even the next week after he’d forgive you, but it’s been five years. _Five years_. A measly banishment lifting is not going to cure him. Nothing will. Nice try though.”

            “Doesn’t mean I can’t take it off,” Axl argues.

            “True,” Mitchell says. “But don’t come crying to me when Anders immediately punches you in the face when you do. Or kicks you in the shin, he’s been taking lessons from Annie.”

            That little reference to Bristol did nothing for them, but make them sadder. There are whole little jokes like that between Mitchell and Anders they knew nothing about—not even Olaf it seems.

            “I think we can find them,” Mitchel continues. “Anders kept notes from when he was with the God Hunters the other two times. They mention what they needed and what they preferred.” He gives a fairly long list of different things. “Ring any bells?”

            Ty shakes his head. “The only place I can think of is the warehouses we were just at.”

            “Well, we’ve got three hours to narrow it down,” Mitchell says. “Before I look for him without you and if I find him we’re leaving.”

            “Leaving?” Dawn says. “Leaving New Zealand?”

            Mitchell roles his eyes. “No, leaving the warehouse—of course New Zealand. I don’t care if you want to be in his life again, I don’t care Axl wants to take the banishment off. I know Anders and I know he wouldn’t fight me about it.”

            Olaf scowls. “You have no right.”

            “I have the only right,” Mitchell snaps. “You lost any good will Anders had towards any of you when you banished him and then _did nothing for the hours he was still here._ You could’ve turned around and at least talked to him even if you were still angry. A call from _any_ of you, just a word or even if you’d call then hung up before he answered—any of that and he would’ve stayed. But you didn’t and he left and now I’m here and I know what he wants because he _tells me_. So if I end up being alone when I find him he’s going to want to leave. If you want Anders back in your life permanently then I suggest getting off your arses and finding out where he is!”

            Axl balled his hands into fists, looking _this_ close to clocking Mitchell right in the jaw. If he does that then he has a good chance of actually breaking the vampire’s jaw—that is, unless Mitchell is super-durable to go along with his vampire-ness, Dawn isn’t quite sure.

            Ty pulls out his laptop and looks at Mitchell expectantly. “Give the list again,” he says. “And I’ll see if I can narrow anything down. There might be something just outside of Auckland that might have what we’re looking for. I doubt they went farther than that.”

            “We’ll have to be sneakier about it,” Michele says as Mitchell rattles off his list—well, Anders’ list. “Last time is the last time. We can’t leave Mike in their hands.”

            “And Anders and Frigg,” Gaia reminds her. “They’re there too. Probably in a worse situation than Mike considering the circumstances.”

            “Er…right. Of course.”

            Olaf reads over Ty’s shoulder as he types and re-types things into a search bar. Stacey pulls out her phone and mutters around with Ingrid about warehouses so they’re probably looking for the same thing with the parts of the list they remember. Dawn shuffles over next to Mitchell, reading the list over his arm.

            “I want to go with you,” she says. “If you end up going by yourself to find them, I want to go with you.”

            “That’s not the definition of ‘by myself,’” Mitchell says with an amused smirk, but his eyes are serious. “But I’m thankful for the company. I’m sure Anders will be to.”

            She nods then looks out to the group. “I don’t think they’re going to let you leave alone,” she admits. “I think you’re stuck with them.”

            He presses his lips into a thin lip. “Good,” is all he says.

There is a knock on the door that Axl answers, arguing that he’s obviously the best choice with the threat of another one of them being taken and, hey, if he knows something’s going to happen he can just knock them out with his Odin strength.

            On the doorstep is a tall man with a sheepish expression on his face. He waves a little and says, “Hello, I’m Váli. I’m here to kill Höðr?”


	13. II.III

Everyone springs into action. Olaf shoves Ty behind him despite his protests and Axl moves to grab his sword, forgetting for a moment that he is at Ty’s place and his sword isn’t there. Everyone goes on the defensive, except for Dawn who is pushed back with Ty, and even Mitchell looks ready to lunge at the man who is the vessel for Váli. Ty notes the barely restrained movement in Mitchell’s body, slightly surprised of the intensity of his protectiveness.

            “Back off,” Axl demands.

            Váli puts his hands up defensively. “Whoa, whoa. I don’t _actually want_ to _kill_ Höðr. I’m just suppose to.”

            “The myth didn’t go through,” Mitchell snarls. “Baldr is not dead.”

            His eyes widen as he peers around them to see Olaf standing there waving just as sheepishly as Váli did when he arrived. “Oh,” he says. “Well, that changes things. What happened?”

            “Me,” Mitchell answers. “And Anders. We figured it out before Loki’s plan went through.”

            “Oh,” he says again. “Okay, that makes sense. So I guess I’m here to help you find Frigg instead.” He rolls his eyes at the shocked faces. “I’m just as much as an Asgardian as you guys are. I want to go home too. It’s a little obvious you can’t find her wherever she is. Where’s this Anders that saved Baldr?”

            Mitchell grinds his teeth together. “Gone. Along with Mike and the woman who is Frigg. We’re looking for them right now. You’re gonna help?”

            “Well. I’ve got nothing else to do since my job to kill Höðr is, well, useless now.”

            With the unexpected inclusion of Váli (who turns out to be named Jack O’Brien) their search turned a little more frenzied and perhaps faster. It is a little hard to tell, maybe they are going through the information faster, but they aren’t finding anything faster.

            Everyone gives Jack/Váli a wide berth, not-so-subtly avoiding him. He sits at the table, mobile in hand, and an amused smirk on his face, like he thinks it’s completely hilarious that they’re completely ignoring him after he introduced himself as wanting to kill Ty.

            Mitchell sits as far away from Jack as possible with Dawn and Ty, Axl, Olaf, and Michele sit in front of them in a protective defense. Jack is in the center of attention and it’s almost as if he likes it.

            Stacey shouts in triumph and gives the greatest news ever: she may have found the perfect place the God Hunters are keeping their family and friends. It takes thirty minutes for them to get ready and two minutes for Jack to subtly slip out a knife and lunge for Ty. Ty jerks back at just the right moment and shoots his hand out to slap Jack’s wrist, sending the knife flying and the other man’s wrist freezes.

            “What the fuck?” Ty yells.

            Mitchell tackles Jack, pining the man’s arms behind him and the vampire shoves his face to the ground. The smallest of fractures appear in the ice that is now Jack’s wrist.

            “I’ve got to kill him,” Jack insists. “It’s the way it goes.”

            “And the fact that I’m still alive doesn’t bother you the slightest?” Olaf asks.

            Jack struggles for a bit more then gives up, going limp under Mitchell’s knee though Mitchell doesn’t relax the slightest. “That’s the only reason I’m here. It’s my sole duty to kill Höðr for the Death of Baldur. That’s why I was born in Asgard in the first place. Even if you prevented it somehow doesn’t mean nothing else is going to fall into place.”

            “We should kill him,” Michele says. Then she raises her hands defensively when everyone pins her with a glare (in some cases they are horrified glares). “I’m just saying. It’s not like he’ll be dead forever.”

            “I will!” Jack cries. “Váli might come back, but Jack O’Brien won’t. Jesus Christ, don’t you guys have any heart?”

            “Says the guy who just tried to kill my brother over something that didn’t even happen,” Axl shoots out.

            “Oh come on!” Jack whines.

            Mitchell presses his knee a little harder. “Give me a reason,” he hisses. “Someone very important to me—more important than you probably realise—was taken from me. I’m just dying to let out a little steam.” He lets his eyes bleed black and his teeth length and sharpen just in the view of Jack.

            Jack bucks a little (though he doesn’t get far off the ground) in panic. “You’re a fucking vampire? Oh shit! Man, come on. I’ll leave if you let me go. I’ll leave Höðr alone.”

            “Here,” Olaf says, handing Axl a length of rope.

            It takes a little maneuvering but they manage to tie Jack up against something that won’t move and Ingrid manages to make it work so even the slightest pressure will completely shatter the man’s wrist. Perhaps he could heal from a missing hand, but it will be slow. Very slow. Very, very slow. It it ever happens.

            “We’re going to find my brothers and Frigg,” Axl says, his voice low. He sounds dangerous and dark, entirely pissed off—completely different than the giant, confused puppy he is normally. “And Odin is going to cast judgment on you. Trust me, after all the chaos, Odin’s going to be very happy about that.”

            He grips Mitchell’s shoulder to keep him place, greatly risking his own hand to keep Mitchell from attacking Jack.

            “Ingrid, Stacey,” Axl says. “Stay here, keep an eye on him.”

            Stacey looks like she’s about to argue, but Ingrid touches her elbow and shushes her.

            “That’s it?” Olaf asks. “What if he gets loose?”

            “He won’t,” Mitchell says darkly. “Trust me. I tied those knots. I know how to tie knots.” He straightens and backs towards the door a bit. “If we don’t leave now, I’m going by myself.”

            “Dawn,” Ty says.

            “No.” She stands next to Mitchell. “I’m not staying here. I’ll stay out of the way, I’ll even stay in the car, but I’m not staying in the house. Anders is out there.” She glances at the vampire. “I told him I’d go with him anyway if he went alone or not.”  

            Ty looks pained, but doesn’t say anything else. He knows when Dawn’s made up her mind and he’s not about to force her to change it, especially if it has to do with Anders.

            “I still don’t think just leaving Ingrid and Stacey here with him is a good idea,” Michele says. “No offence, but if he gets loose he could take them both down.”

            “One, he won’t get loose,” Mitchell says, sounding annoyed. “Like I said, _I_ tied him up. Second, just the slightest pressure with shatter his wrist. He can’t exactly take out two capable women with a handicap he _just_ received. It doesn’t work that way. Trust me. Now, can we go?” Behind his words is _if we don’t leave soon I’m going myself and I can’t promise anyone but Anders will be found alive._

Axl’s hands ball into fist at his side. “Call us if anything happens,” he tells the two goddesses. “We’ll be back soon with Anders and Mike and Frigg.”

            They all climb into two cars, but Ty makes sure there was a med kit and blankets in the back. No one wants to think that they might actually need the med kit, but by the way Mitchell tenses and his eyes darken—darken differently than the blackness that is being a vampire, this is more of dark and terrible memories—he doesn’t want to think about why they might need the med kit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hate me if you don't like this chapter. To be honest, it's amazing I got it out at all with a thousand+ words. I haven't been having the greatest week personally and, yeah, so apologies.


	14. II.IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm currently working on a hobbit Big Bang so I've been very distracted on getting that done on time. I haven't given up this story, the hobbit has just taken over my brain.

The chosen place where Anders, Mike, and Frigg are being kept ends up not being a warehouse, but a regular house in a housing development not yet finished so none of the houses are actually being lived in at the moment. The second time Anders was taken—the first time since Mitchell was a constant—they took him to a warehouse, the very first time without Mitchell it was just a regular house.

            “If this isn’t the right place I’m going to be pissed,” Axl says.

            “You and me both,” Mitchell mutters.

            “Before we kick ass,” Michele says. “I want to know where vampire-boy learned such nice knots.” She winks at him. “You and your dwarf get freaky in the bedroom or something?”

            Mitchell scowls at her. “The Great War,” he replies through gritted teeth. “Or, you know, World War I. It was kind of a requirement to know. By World War II I was an expert.”

            That made her expression sober. “How old are you anyway?”

            “Old enough,” he answers. “But not very old at all.” He stuffs his hands in his pockets. “And don’t bother asking me how it’s going to work with the very mortal Anders, we’ve had that conversation already. Can we get on with it now or are you going to give a rousing speech of encouragement?”

            “I think that’s a little redundant,” Ty comments.”

            Axl rolls his eyes. “Come on.” He grips his sword tightly. “Let’s go.”

            Mitchell and the two oldest Johnsons left manage to keep Axl from charging into the house like he wants. They go for stealth out of everything with a hint to of urgency. Mitchell ducks under a windowsill, he peers into the kitchen to see a man stand at the counter reading a newspaper. He’s just about to let Ty know when he realises the man isn’t moving…at all.

            “Something’s wrong,” he says, dropping his voice to a whisper though his gut tells him it’s probably pointless.

            “What do you mean?” Ty asks.

            Mitchell stands even when the other man tries to keep him hidden. The man at the sink doesn’t even look at him; he barely looks as if he’s breathing. He pulls on Ty to get him to stand too and they’re both left looking at the man in confusion.

            “Let’s head in.”

            The house is silent when they walk in. Unnervingly silent. No one comes to rush them, there are no frantic footsteps to indicate someone knows they’re there. It’s like this place is completely empty, but they know it’s not because of the still man at the sink.

            “I don’t get it,” Axl says. “What’s going on?”

            Mitchell shakes his head. “Basement. I don’t give a shit about the God Killers. I just want Anders.” He realises how childish that sounds, but it’s absolutely true.

            Ty gives him a strange look, but follows him down the basement stairs anyway. The others follow quietly as well, the whole mood tense.

            They come face to face with a crowbar pointed out like it’s the sword Axl has in his hands. Holding it is a gorgeous blonde woman, her looks broken by the bruise on her cheek and jaw and the dirt on the lines of her face. Her hair’s a mess and her eyes are wild.

            “Stay away,” she orders.

            “Hold on,” Mitchell says, putting his hands up to placate her. “We’re the good guys. I promise.”

            “Like I’m going to believe you.”

            “Mike? Anders?” Axl calls through the darkness. There’s the click of a switch as someone tries to turn on the light, but it doesn’t work.

            The woman relaxes. “Are you guys the brothers?”

            “Those two are,” Mitchell answers. “The rest are friends and I’m Mitchell.”

            She relaxes even more. “Where are the God Killers?”

            “Frozen,” Ty answers.

            Frigg swears—she can only be Frigg—and drops her crowbar with a clatter, rushing to the back of the basement into the darkness. “Damnit, Anders! This is not what we meant.”

            “Did he really do it?” Mike’s voice came.

            “Yes. Your family’s here.”

            “Here, take him.” Mike comes from the darkness, looking worn and tired and in better shape than Frigg. “It’s good to see you.” He pulls Axl into a hug and claps Ty on the shoulder, nodding to Olaf. “We’ve got a shit storm on our hands.” He glances at Mitchell. “He fixed you. Can you fix him?”

            Mitchell doesn’t answer, just moves to where he can hear Anders’ laboured breathing. He finds what he expects: Anders laid out, his head cradled in Frigg’s lap, and looking half-dead. Trust him, he knows what half-dead looks like.

            “Oh Anders,” he says, dropping to his knees. “What did you do?”

            “I told them to stop,” Anders says, his voice a whisper. “It’s hard to do when there’s so many.” Anders’ hand is resting on his chest, right where his heart is. “I’ve died,” he whispers, lips bloodless and cheeks fever red. “Oops.”

            “You’re not dead,” Mitchell chastises. “You’re not that stupid enough to die and leave me here alone.”

            Anders smirks at him despite the pain he’s in.

            “If you tell them to move again do you think that’ll help?” Frigg asks. “I really don’t understand Bragi’s power.”

            “None of us do,” Mitchell says. “He’s a little unpredictable.”

            “A little?” Mike snarls from the other side of the room. “Talk about fucking crazy. This is not what we meant. If you die, I’m going to kill you.”

            Anders starts laughing then he starts choking on air. “T-That’s…” He sucks in air frantically. “That’s what M-Mitchell says a-all the t-time. Christ.” He clutches the fabric over his heart. “I can’t.”

            “Can’t what?” Mitchell asks. He tangles his fingers in Anders’ unruly blond locks that rivals his own for wildness. “Are you holding too hard onto the order?”

            Anders shakes his head, his breathing getting a little faster and a little shallower. The ground shakes lightly and Mitchell curses under his breath, just what they need—earthquakes.

            “Axl,” he says. “Anders is going to let go of the God Killers. You have two choices: kill them or capture them. You have the sword, figure it out.” He sees Axl nod out of the corner of his eye. “You’re going to be okay,” he tells Anders.

            He grins at Mitchell. “That’s m-my line.” Blood trickles from his nose. “Don’t let my—D-Don’t let Axl actually kill p-people,” he says quietly. “He’s only allowed to kill one p-person. Me. I’ll let him do it over and over again if it helps.”

            Mitchell shakes his head. “Let go of the command,” he urges gently. “I’ll keep Axl’s sanity intact. Promise.”

            Anders closes his eyes and whispers something so quietly that Mitchell can’t even hear the words. There’s a crash upstairs and angry shouting, then hurried footsteps coming closer to the basement door. Anders immediately passes out, going limp even as Frigg tries to keep him awake.

            “Anders?” Mitchell shakes his shoulder and receives no reply. The only reason he’s not freaking out beyond that is Anders’ shallow breathing and the alluring sound of blood pumping through his veins that gives indication his heart’s going strong. The amount of times Anders ends up in these situations is staggering and Mitchell wishes he could just bundle him up in a fluffy blanket and taken him away from everything that could hurt him. Annie would help.

            “Is he okay?” Ty asks.

            “Michele,” Mitchell calls, not answering Ty. “Come over here and use your doctor expertise.”

            She walks over, looking concern. “It’s some sort of god thing,” she says. “Not just that, it’s a _Bragi_ thing. I’ve got no expertise on this.”

            “Wonderful,” Mitchell intones.

            There’s banging on the doors and more cursing. Olaf is holding it close and Axl is right behind him, brandishing his sword like he knows how to use it—Mitchell highly believes he actually doesn’t and is more likely to stab himself than any God Killer.

            “Stay with him,” he tells Frigg. She nods solemnly and holds Anders close, the serious look in her eye makes him regret not finding out her actual name but before he can ask the basement door slams open. “Michele, protect them.”

            She’s the last line of defense, but he doesn’t think they’ll need it. There are four God Killers and four of them (Dawn and Gaia waiting in the car with weapons of their own in case there’s more than the ones in the house). They can handle this easily.

 


	15. WARNING! WARNING! DANGER, WIL ROBINSON

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't hate me?

I'm rewriting this story. Don't worry, the good things aren't disappearing. I can't decide, though to re-post the chapters over these ones or make a new story with links to it here then delete this story?

Thoughts?


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